More secure with Visa’s new encryption service

Visa Inc. has launched Visa Merchant Data Secure with Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE), a new service helps acquirers and their merchants protect payment card data. Visa is currently working with acquirers, processors and payment technology vendors to provide specifications for integrating Visa’s solution into payment terminals as well as into all critical system across the payment processing industry. This new service seems only available by early of next year.

P2PE technology helps merchants and acquirers protect payment card data within their systems by encrypting sensitive cardholder information. Because the card data can only be accessed, or unscrambled, with decryption keys held securely by the acquirer, gateway or Visa, cardholder information is protected within the payment processing environment.

Visa Inc.’s Chief Enterprise Risk Officer Ellen Richey said that P2PE can significantly reduce the risk and impact of data compromises since encrypted data can’t be used to commit fraud.

This solution is part of Visa’s broader authentication strategy which aims to improve payment industry security by eliminating account data from the payment environment whenever possible, protecting sensitive information wherever it is stored, processed or transmitted, and devaluing stolen account information through dynamic authentication solutions such as EMV chip technology. P2PE technology is complementary to EMV chip technology, by providing an added layer of protection against the threat of data breaches, especially as the industry works to reach critical mass in the adoption of chip terminals and chip cards to benefit from EMV’s defence against counterfeit fraud.