News

Mercury Payment Systems Unveils New PA-DSS Validated Payment Application for POS Developers

Durango, CO —January 8, 2010 —Integrated payments processor, Mercury Payment Systems, today announced the launch of MercuryShield™, a new PA-DSS validated payment application that provides point-of-sale (POS) developers with a fully-integrated payment solution that does not store, process, or transmit cardholder data in the POS system of the developer.

With the developer's use of the fully-integrated payment solution, MercuryShield, a developer's point of sale (POS) system can avoid the significant cost and effort of achieving PA-DSS compliance for the use of sensitive card data because this information will not be stored, processed or transmitted through the POS software of the developer. With MercuryShield, a developer's POS application need only collect the non-sensitive data necessary to perform a payment transaction.

Here's how it works: once a transaction is ready for tender, MercuryShield seamlessly captures the transaction and initiates the swipe or manual entry of the card information using its own secure application and easy-to-use screen. MercuryShield then transmits the transaction directly to Mercury Payment Systems' secure network, passing back all necessary, non-sensitive transaction response information to the POS.

"Achieving PA-DSS validation can be a very expensive and cumbersome process," said Lucas Zaichkowsky, senior compliance technologist at Mercury Payment Systems. "Free to Mercury's qualified POS developer partners, we developed MercuryShield to remove the obstacles of PA-DSS validation for POS developers."

The MercuryShield integration can be completed in a fraction of the time that previous integrations required. Prospective developers can get the MercuryPay processing platform and MercuryShield application in one integration package.

"MercuryShield is easy to integrate to," said Zaichkowsky. "It also saves developers the time and cost of PA-DSS validation and frees them to focus on their core business." MercuryShield supports credit, PIN debit, and MercuryGift® card processing and meets VISA's payment application security mandates requiring acquirers to ensure their merchants, VisaNet Processors (VNPs), and agents use only PA-DSS compliant applications.

About Mercury Payment Systems

Mercury Payment Systems is an integrated transaction processing company created to enhance point-of-sale systems by offering credit, debit, check, gift card and loyalty processing. Mercury's integrated Internet protocol (IP) or dial-up processing solutions are fast, reliable and affordable. Retailers can leverage the reliability and enhanced efficiency of integrated payment processing to increase productivity and customer satisfaction. Mercury Payment Systems helps resellers increase their opportunities with reseller support and superior technology. For more information call 800-846-4472, ext. 1820 or go to www.MercuryPay.com.

Media Contact:

Wendy Graham
Mercury Payment Systems
(970) 385-3460
wgraham@mercurypay.com