(25 June 2008 – Australia) Retail merchants are reportedly under fire from credit card firms to increase customer data security to industry standards.IBM card security expert Howard Glavin has sent out a warning to local merchants that the credit card companies of Mastercard, VISA and American Express have been increasing the pressure on Australian merchants.
There are currently requirements on merchants to have secure networks and use encryption for sensitive data, while regular audits are conducted.
Still, Glavin suggested that local merchants are lagging behind their counterparts in the USA and in Britain in terms of compliance with security standards.
Security standards are designed to protect consumers against fraud, identity theft and data loss through hacking or accidental exposure.
Glavin said fines of about A$5,000 per company per month were being imposed in Australia for non-compliance with the strict PCI data security standard, which is a lower amount than imposed in the US.
In the US, fines can be up to A$50,000 per month for each company that does not comply with standards. It is, however, hard to track fines due to commercial in-confidence requirements.