Element, Anthology partner for PCI DSS-compliant payment processing

Element Partners with Anthology to Provide PCI DSS Compliant Payment Processing Element's Level 1 PCI DSS compliant payment processing system incorporates the most innovative technology on the market including end-to-end encryption and tokenization. Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) May 27, 2010 -- Element Payment Services, Inc., a recognized industry leader in PCI DSS compliant payment processing and Anthology Development LLC., the premier bookstore management system provider announce a partnership which will provide fully integrated, PCI DSS compliant processing solutions to Anthology customers. Credit card fraud is a significant problem for merchants. In recent years, the compromise of credit card and personal information has cost major retailers hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and compensation to customers. According to the 2009 Global Cost of a Data Breach report, compiled by The Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach in the US in 2009 was $6.75 million or $204 per compromised card record. Hidden costs such as lost business and damage to a retailer’s reputation accounted for 66% of the overall cost of a breach for the same merchants.  The Level 1 PCI DSS compliant payment processing system incorporates the most innovative technology on the market including end-to-end encryption and tokenization. Anthology selected Element as its processing partner because the company wanted a solution that completely removed the transmission and storage of cardholder data from both their software application and customers’ point of sale systems. “Because thieves continue to find ways to hack into point of sale (POS) systems and steal confidential cardholder information even from PCI DSS compliant merchants, it was critical that we found a solution that enabled our merchants to process directly with a PCI DSS compliant payment processor in a simple and transparent way that does not involve the storing, processing, or transmitting of credit card information in Anthology. This partnership provides customers the most secure credit card processing available,” says Steve Van Zoeren, vice president of development at Anthology. Anthology integrated Element’s payment processing solutions through Hosted Payments which takes software providers out of scope of the PA-DSS/PCI DSS compliance requirements. Hosted Payments works by transferring the risk and liability of handling sensitive cardholder data away from programs like Anthology and its users to Element’s Express Processing Platform,” explains Sean Kramer, president and CEO of Element. The Level 1 PCI DSS compliant payment processing system incorporates the most innovative technology on the market including end-to-end encryption and tokenization. "By leveraging Element’s Hosted Payments, Anthology is no longer considered a payment application and, as such, is not in scope for these compliance requirements,” says Kramer. Rapidly approaching deadlines in the credit card processing industry mandate all businesses accepting credit card payments use payment applications that meet the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). By July 1, 2010 all merchants must ensure this mandate is met in order for their own businesses to comply with the PCI DSS. If not, businesses risk the loss in ability to accept credit cards from customers. About Element Payment Services, Inc: Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Element Payment Services, Inc. provides fully integrated PCI DSS compliant payment processing solutions to merchants through partnerships with leading business management software providers. Engineered using service-oriented architecture (SOA), Element's Express Processing Platform allows for easy integration and supports advanced technologies such as end-to-end encryption, tokenization and authentication. Processing over $4 billion in annual transaction volume, Element's simple and secure payment solutions allow customers to easily comply with industry security requirements such as PCI DSS, and PA-DSS (PABP), significantly reducing the risk associated with handling cardholder data. Element's innovative technology, Hosted Payments, was the first payment processing solution on the market to take software providers out of scope for PA-DSS/PCI DSS compliance requirements. Element Payment Services, Inc. is a registered Merchant Service Provider with First National Bank of Omaha. About Anthology Development LLC: Anthology was founded over twenty years ago when Asian Books of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a seller of fine and scholarly books on Asia and the Islamic world, became the first Harvard Square bookstore to computerize its operations. In 1991, Anthology was organized to provide a powerful, easy-to-use and inexpensive bookstore management system. Since that time, Anthology has continued to grow and develop into one of the most widely-used and trusted POS/inventory control systems in the bookselling industry. Furthermore, retailers from other industries like toy and gift stores have also discovered the functionality and intuitive nature of Anthology, and recognized its versatility in meeting the inventory control needs of their stores. With over 1500 installations of Anthology worldwide, the company’s vision is to empower booksellers by creating powerful, easy-to-use, affordable inventory control solutions that allow booksellers to leverage the best in emerging technologies to compete in today’s markets. For more information, please visit www.anthology.com. ###