PCI DSS Compliance Program Joins Failsafe’s Merchant Account & Gateway Offerings

CLEVELAND, OH & NICOSIA, CYPRUS (October 12, 2010) – Failsafe Payments, a Merchant Service Provider in both North America and Europe, today announced the addition of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance services from SecurityMetrics to help merchants meet industry requirements and prevent theft of customer card data. Benefits to participating merchants on both continents include a 175-person SecurityMetrics call center available 24x7 to answer PCI-related questions as part of the low annual fee.

The new PCI DSS compliance validation service joins Failsafe’s merchant account program and Certo Payment Gateway, an integrated merchant and MSP e-commerce platform enabling authentication and acceptance of multiple payment options and services for online transactions. Failsafe’s expanded portfolio enables merchants to source multiple card payment services from a single provider.

"Our target merchants are smaller and mid-sized businesses that typically need hands-on assistance to understand the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and other PCI DSS requirements. Online self-service systems are not sufficient," said John Williams, president of Failsafe Payments. "With SecurityMetrics, both our North American and European customers will have around-the-clock access to PCI specialists who can walk them through the processes required to keep customer card data safe from attack."

For merchants, other benefits of SecurityMetrics’ PCI DSS compliance services include a proprietary scanning engine that checks for more points of Internet security than other vendors, a Site Certification Report that lists each potential entry point individually to assist in closing security gaps, and a flat annual fee with no add-on charges.

For acquirers and ISOs like Failsafe Payments, benefits include email, fax and outbound calling campaigns to encourage merchant enrollment and a robust web-based Merchant Compliance Console that provides detailed real-time portfolio compliance progress, drilldown to merchant scan and questionnaire results, and easy PCI compliance reporting.

"Level 4 PCI DSS compliance remains a challenge for payment services providers as well as merchants themselves," said SecurityMetrics CEO Brad Caldwell. "Companies like Failsafe Payments that proactively help merchants meet their regulatory obligations are playing an important role in thwarting security breaches, reducing card fraud and protecting consumers from the consequences."

The PCI DSS is a comprehensive set of global security requirements developed by the PCI Security Standards Council in order to safeguard cardholder data worldwide. The organization was founded by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa, Inc.

About SecurityMetrics

SecurityMetrics, Inc. is a leading provider of Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) security solutions, including the most successful mass-merchant compliance model in the industry. The company is certified to perform PCI Scans (ASV), PCI audits (QSA), Payment Application Data Security Standards audits (PA-QSA), penetration tests and forensic incident response assessments (QIRA). SecurityMetrics also offers a security appliance that includes vulnerability assessment, intrusion detection and intrusion prevention capabilities. SecurityMetrics is a privately held corporation headquartered in Orem, Utah. For more information, contact SecurityMetrics at (801) 724-9600 in North America, 0207.993.8030 in Europe or 61.2.8011.3270 in Australia, or visit www.securitymetrics.com.

About Failsafe Payments

Failsafe Payments is a Merchant Service Provider (MSP), based in Nicosia, Cyprus and Cleveland, Ohio. The company offers both merchant accounts and a single integration e-commerce platform called Certo Payment Gateway that connects merchants and MSP’s around the world with worldwide banks, payment brands, payment processors, shopping carts, alternative payments, 3-D Secure and third-party services such as advanced fraud scrubbing and loyalty programs. For more information, visit www.failsafepayments.com.