Fifth Third Processing Solutions Introduces Compliance Tool Aimed at Small Retailers

CINCINNATI, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Third Processing Solutions is pleased to announce a new product solution, PCI Assist, aimed at small, Level 4 merchants looking for assistance as they seek to validate compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).  

The PCI DSS is a requirement for all companies that store, process or transmit cardholder data and has been endorsed by all of the major card brands, including Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Network, American Express, and JCB.  Level 4 merchants are defined as those that conduct fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions and/or fewer than 1 million single card transactions per year.  Any merchant processing payment card data is required to validate and maintain compliance with the PCI DSS.

PCI Assist is a set of online data security tools that can help merchants safeguard business data through implementation of security best practices and support with PCI DSS compliance validation.  Validating PCI DSS compliance typically requires two key components:  completion of a PCI Self-assessment Questionnaire and vulnerability scanning, where applicable.  

To assist in the compliance efforts of merchants, Fifth Third Processing Solutions works with Trustwave, a leading provider of PCI DSS compliance validation and data security solutions.  PCI Assist provides merchants with access to TrustKeeper®, Trustwave's industry-leading PCI DSS compliance web portal that can help smaller-size merchants facilitate PCI DSS compliance validation in an easy and efficient manner.  Using its dynamic PCI Wizard in conjunction with TrustKeeper Agent, merchants answer a personalized questionnaire that simplifies the complex terminology of PCI DSS.  TrustKeeper also helps merchants complete the PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire, schedule required vulnerability scans and receive their PCI DSS compliance certificate.

As an additional component, Fifth Third Processing Solutions and Trustwave offer online education for merchants to help them understand and achieve certification with the PCI DSS.  Video tutorials, on-demand help and tools guide merchants through general cardholder data security, PCI DSS and how to comply with the standard.  

Other components of PCI Assist include access to Security Policy Advisor and Security Awareness Education to ensure merchants have addressed business operation requirements such as PCI DSS Requirement 12.  In addition, the solution helps merchants identify potential security exposures in their infrastructure.  When these exposures are closed, the opportunity for card data breaches is reduced.

Long known as a payments advocate for the merchant community, this offering is yet another component of the company's Blueprint for Cardholder Data Security and further demonstrates the value that it brings in helping them secure card transaction data.  In 2009, Fifth Third Processing Solutions launched its Breach Assistance Program aimed at helping off-set the financial costs to their merchant processing customers who experience a breach of card data in their custody.  The Breach Assistance Program offers subscribing merchants indemnification of up to $50,000 per merchant location and up to $500,000 per incident(1) to cover such costs as forensic audit expenses, card replacement and monitoring costs, associations fines and compliance cases and account data compromise recovery costs.  

"We recognize that understanding PCI DSS requirements and validating compliance with those requirements is problematic for merchants," comments Donald Boeding, President, Merchant Services at Fifth Third Processing Solutions.  "This tool, with its expert wizard, can help de-code and explain PCI DSS, so our merchants can move toward the process of understanding their security opportunities and improving their security posture."

"Most small merchants often lack the technical expertise and resources to ensure their environments are properly secured and compliant," said Doug Klotnia, executive vice president of product and strategic sales at Trustwave. "Fifth Third Processing Solutions has created a comprehensive program that supports their merchants with easy-to-navigate tools that facilitate compliance. We're excited to be a part of this program as our technology was created for these types of merchants."

About Trustwave

Trustwave is the leading provider of on-demand and subscription-based information security and payment card industry compliance management solutions to businesses and government entities throughout the world. For organizations faced with today's challenging data security and compliance environment, Trustwave provides a unique approach with comprehensive solutions that include its flagship TrustKeeper® compliance management software and other proprietary security solutions.  Trustwave has helped thousands of organizations—ranging from Fortune 500 businesses and large financial institutions to small and medium-sized retailers—manage compliance and secure their network infrastructure, data communications and critical information assets. Trustwave is headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit https://www.trustwave.com.  

(1) Indemnification of costs is provided by Great American E&S Insurance Company, Cincinnati, Ohio and is limited to the terms and conditions set forth in the insurance policy issues to the name insured Fifth Third Processing Solutions.  

Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC delivers innovative payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions around the world. A pioneer in card payment acceptance in the early 1970s, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a joint venture with Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

As a premier full service payment solutions provider, the Company provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private label programs processing over 33.3 billion ATM and point of sale transactions and over $315.5 billion in debit and credit card sales volume annually. The Company supports over 180,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 11 countries. According to the Nilson Report (March 2010), the Company is the third largest U.S. merchant transaction acquirer. Learn more at www.FTPSLLC.com.

SOURCE Fifth Third Processing Solutions