allpay Limited to contribute to the development of PCI Security Standards as Council’s newest Participating Organisation.

 allpay Limited, the UK’s leading payment services specialist, announced today that it has joined the PCI Security Standards Council as a new Participating Organisation. allpay Limited will work with the Council to achieve and improve payment data security worldwide, through the ongoing development of the PCI Security Standards, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS).

 Endorsed by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc., the PCI Security Standards require merchants and service providers that store, process or transmit customer payment card data to adhere to information security controls and processes that ensure data protection – not just once a year, but as part of an ongoing business-as-usual security posture.To enhance payment data security globally, while embracing new technologies as they are developed, the Council relies on the involvement of those across the payments processing chain, from merchants and service providers to payment device manufacturers and software developers, financial institutions and processors.

 As a Participating Organisation, allpay Limited will receive previews of drafts of standards and supporting materials in order to provide feedback to shape their final versions, as well as engage a growing community of more than 700 organisations united to improve payment security worldwide.

 allpay Limited will also have the opportunity to recommend new initiatives for consideration to the PCI Security Standards Council, participate in exclusive webinars/Q&A sessions with Council representatives, and review and discuss new versions of the PCI Security Standards while sharing cross-sector experiences and best practices at the annual Community Meetings.

 “In an era of increasingly sophisticated attacks on systems, adhering to the PCI DSS represents an entity’s best protection against network security threats and data breaches,” said Stephen W. Orfei, General Manager of the PCI Security Standards Council. “By joining as a Participating Organisation, allpay Limited demonstrates it is playing an active part in mitigating the threats and improving the security of the payment chain globally by driving the security standards to higher levels of adoption and strength.”

“We are delighted to be a Participating Organisation and look forward to playing a direct role in the ongoing development of PCI Security Standards,” said Simon Cook, head of information security and compliance at allpay Limited. “This is a brilliant opportunity for allpay to stay up-to-date with, and review in advance, standards before release and actively partake in decision-making. We are pleased to stand in for election on the Board of Advisors, too, and very much look forward to contributing toward improving payment security on a global scale.”