NACS, PCI SSC and NRF weigh in on BuySecure Initiative.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), on behalf of the more than 151,000 convenience stores nationwide, the PCI Security Standards Council and the National Retail Federation (NRF), all applaud President Obama’s new BuySecure Initiative instituting the use of both microchip and PIN technology in government-issued credit and debit cards and joining with leading private players to advance the use of this highly secure technology as the industry standard.
“NACS has been working for many years to promote the use of PIN technology, which has been successfully employed in Europe for years, resulting in dramatic reductions in fraud to the benefit of merchants and consumers alike,” said Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of government relations.
“PIN technology is the surest and simplest way to ensure card security. Even without the use of chip, requiring a four-digit PIN number on all credit card transactions would immediately eliminate the vast majority of card fraud. We agree with the president that this collaborative initiative has the potential to be a premier example of government leadership in driving positive change, in particular to accelerate the widespread adoption of next-generation payment security tools. NACS will redouble its own efforts to work with the administration, Congress and the industry to make the establishment of the highest possible protections for businesses and consumers in the very near future,” said Beckwith.
“We applaud the White House for highlighting the importance of payment card security today,” said Stephen Orfei, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council. “The PCI Security Standards Council has long been a supporter of EMV chip technology and we view it as a critical layer in any payment security strategy. EMV chip technology will button down security at the point of sale, however, it is not by itself a silver bullet for data protection. EMV chip technology does not prevent against malware attacks like the ones we’ve been reading about in the news, nor does it prevent card not present attacks. No one single technology is the answer. As we head into the holiday shopping season, it is important for American businesses to keep their eye on both their sales and their IT systems. We encourage businesses to prioritize the strong security principles found in PCI Standards, and maintain a multi-layered security approach that involves people, process and technology working together to protect consumers.”
“We applaud the administration for taking proactive and positive steps by adopting PIN and chip technology for government-issued debit and credit cards, among other things,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “As the world’s largest retail trade association, NRF continues to work with our members and other stakeholders on practical and comprehensive solutions that are less about process and more about progress toward how we collaboratively prevent and combat this criminal activity.”
“From insisting on PIN and chip cards to facilitating greater information sharing among retailers and others sectors, we are committed to finding the right answers with the latest technologies to stop these cyber thieves,” he added. “This is not an issue about large retail versus small, or global financial institutions versus community banks and credit unions, or the federal government versus municipalities. We all stand together in seeking solutions to prevent criminals from accessing personal financial data regarding our customers, investors and citizens through preventable data breaches.”
