PCMS

VISION BeanStore is awarded PA DSS compliance

With the July 2010 deadline for retailers to achieve PCI compliance creeping ever closer, VISION BeanStore, the leading EPoS software from retail IT provider PCMS Group, has been awarded compliance with PCI Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA DSS V1.2). PCMS's system also makes it the first company that is able to offer a solution that can reduce the level of assessment a retailer needs. Retailers who are not compliant by the deadline run the risk of heavy fines and significantly increased liability.

In an innovative step, PCMS has not only encapsulated all card handling into a stand alone module, but also ensured that the application acts as a card data fire wall, meaning that any data element can be exempt from retailer PCI.

The PA DSS compliant module is a cost-effective solution for retailers already using the software as it eliminates the need for a whole system upgrade, which many of their competitors may have to undertake in the bid to comply with the new regulations.

PCMS group sales and marketing director, Richard Goodall, comments: "PCI compliance is turning out to be quite complex for retailers to implement as every piece of kit that has anything to do with card payments must be covered. So when we were looking at ways to make our own system compliant, it was imperative that the solution would be easy and cost-effective for our customers to implement and where possible had the ability to reduce the overall scope of retailer responsibility."

PCMS's global remit has made the process of gaining compliance even more challenging but has also put the company a step ahead of the game. Goodall explains more: "In this instance, the US is a few months ahead of the UK, so we've had to speed up our development to not only meet our US customers' needs, but also offer a truly international solution that works as a standalone or as part of a global system across different continents, time zones and currencies." Over the next 15 months BeanStore is being rolled out over some 100,000 tills in at least 12 countries so inherent solution flexibility without compromising compliance is vital.

In achieving this, PCMS has also joined up with Postilion, the global provider of payments software solutions, which also offers a global solution to further its PCI compliant offering to retailers.