The Electronic Payments Coalition is urging the US Congress to approve new legislation that it says will make consumers’ data safer.
The Data Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 2205) was drafted by the House Financial Services Committee in an effort to improve the data security standards applied to retailers, and now faces a vote in Congress. The EPC is a big fan; in a press release, the group pointed to its industry’s efforts to “improve data security through technologies like EMV, tokenization and biometrics”, but lamented that merchants are not currently compelled to embrace such security measures. “Unfortunately, the system is only as strong as its weakest link”, the group wrote.
It isn’t the first time the EPC has decried the lack of security standards for retailers. With the recent shift in the US to EMV chip-and-PIN technology, which is more secure than traditional card readers, the EPC pointed out that a majority of American merchants weren’t prepared to accept EMV cards.
Nevertheless, technology is marching forward with the rise of mPayment platforms and the general digitization of the payments industry, and it would seem that sooner or later more advanced security standards are going to have to be implemented. According to the EPC, H.R. 2205 would be a step in that direction.
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