Visio Talk

Whether you’re a merchant or a consumer, you should understand what it means when a company is or uses a CISP compliant service provider for payment processing. We’ve all heard about credit card fraud, identity theft and the high cost of security breaches for businesses. Visa created and implemented its Cardholder Information Security Program in 2001 to help protect both businesses and their credit card customers from security breaches.

As a consumer, it doesn’t matter whether you make your purchase at the mall, over the phone, by mail or online. If you are paying with a VISA card or VISA cards are accepted by the vendor you’re buying from, their merchant account company must be CISP compliant.

What does that mean exactly? As of 2004 when the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was launched, it means every business that handles Visa cardholder data and accepts VISA payments must conform to PIC’s security standards. Everything from securing networks via firewall installation and configuration to regulations regarding the transmission and storage of cardholder data is covered, along with a good deal more.

If you’re a vendor yourself, who checks up on your credit card processing? VISA and the other major credit card companies validate PIC compliance themselves.

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