SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Merchant Link, a company that provides comprehensive, secure solutions to the integrated point-of-sale industry, today announced the launch of TransactionVault(TM), an innovative security solution that addresses the problem of safeguarding consumers' personal data at the merchant location. Most integrated payment systems store sensitive credit card data at the merchant location, opening up the potential for security breaches where cardholder data could be compromised. TransactionVault(TM) uniquely addresses this problem by removing data from a merchant's POS system to Merchant Link's monitored, secure and fully PCI compliant environment.
A data breach poses significant monetary and reputational risk to the business storing the information. In fact, according to a 2006 study by the Ponemon Institute, an independent research group, data breaches can cost companies as much as $5 million per incident. Corporate reputations also can suffer. In addition, a recent Merchant Link survey of merchants in the restaurant and lodging industries found that nearly two thirds (61 percent) of respondents are not fully aware of the Card Associations' compliance standards. Known as PCI-DSS compliance, these standards are applicable to any business, regardless of size, that accepts a payment card and there can be significant fines for non-compliance.
"Most businesses are started because an entrepreneur has a dream to sell a product or service. These people are not in the business of data security," said the President of Merchant Link, Chris Justice. "By removing the sensitive data from the merchant's system, TransactionVault(TM) mitigates the cost and risk of managing personal data and complying with the many complicated PCI security standards to which merchants must adhere."
"As a leader in information technology, we are committed to providing our customers with the most advanced security solutions on the market," stated Tom Giannopoulos, Chairman and CEO of MICROS Systems, Inc. "Merchant Link's TransactionVault(TM) technology is an unparalleled solution to the payments industry that complements our point-of-sale offering to clients."
The TransactionVault(TM) concept has been well-received within the payments industry with a prominent industry analyst praising TransactionVault(TM) as an "elegant solution."
Today's announcement comes in tandem with the unveiling of the product at this year's annual international Foodservice Technology Exposition (FS/TEC) held in Long Beach, California and produced by Nation's Restaurant News.
About Merchant Link, LLC
About MICROS
MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. Over 220,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 130 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 20,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point-of-sale and loss prevention products through its subsidiary Datavantage for more than 50,000 specialty retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ under the symbol MCRS.
Merchant Link
