MasterCard and Visa form group to accelerate payment security

MasterCard and Visa have teamed up to form a new cross-industry group focused on enhancing payment system security to keep pace with the expectations of consumers, retailers and financial institutions.



News of the group’s formation comes as retailers like Target continue to deal with fallout from the data breaches that first came to light December 2013 and which continue to dominate headlines.



The group will initially focus on the adoption of EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) chip technology in the United States, in addition to addressing other security-related topics, including tokenization, point-to-point encryption and broader needs of the region.



“One of the critical roles we play is to protect consumers and businesses against criminals and fraudsters,” said Chris McWilton, president of North American Markets, MasterCard. "Only through industry collaboration and cooperation will we address the real and immediate issue of security and maintain consumer confidence and trust. EMV will be the next step in these efforts, alongside enhanced security solutions for online and mobile channels.”



This group will include a diverse group of participants in the payments systems including banks of all sizes, credit unions, acquirers, retailers, point-of-sale device manufacturers and industry trade groups.



“The recent high-profile breaches have served as a catalyst for much needed collaboration between the retail and financial services industry on the issue of payment security,” said Ryan McInerney, president, Visa. “As we have long said, no one industry or technology can solve the issue of payment system fraud on its own. These conversations will serve as a useful forum to share ideas, break down barriers and spur the adoption of next generation security solutions for the benefit of all.”



MasterCard and Visa expect the group tol complement and engage with other efforts across the industry, including proprietary risk councils, EMV task forces and the standard management bodies.