Top Stored Value Industry Executives announce Best Practices for future Certification Standards
NASHVILLE, TN & CLEVELAND, OH - March 1, 2010 - Executives from leading Gift and Loyalty processing networks, ProfitPoint and SparkBase, announced today a joint effort to establish industry best practices and a Data Security Standard (DSS) specific to the Stored Value industry. Initially, the Stored Value Industry Certification (SVIC DSS) will have a "Best Practices" level while a more detailed certification standard is being established for release later this year.
"Credit Card networks have PCI certifications to demonstrate to merchants that they have taken necessary precautions to ensure the security of card data." said Doug Hardman, CEO, SparkBase. "Stored Value transactions travel over private networks, and the type of data maintained for cardholders is often more sensitive. A standard that goes beyond just the card number needed to be established for our industry."
The SVIC certification will cover card numbers, purchasing habits, loyalty points, as well as the other consumer specific demographic data that is unique to Stored Value transaction processing. Often, Loyalty programs store data on a specific cardholder like Birthday, Anniversary, or sometimes more personal information like shoe size.
The duo have been working on developing the Best Practices concept, and plans to release a full set of certification standards by Q4 2010. Because every stored value network has different message formats and processing standards, common ground is crucial to the success of the concept.
"While we clearly acknowledge the importance of protecting card numbers, in our business it is critical to ensure that every user of the system is confident that sensitive, and often times very private, cardholder information is secure," said Vaden Landers, CEO, ProfitPoint Inc. "Stored Value data can encompass something as simple as a $25 Gift Card, or as complex as your grocery store purchasing history for the last 5 years. Those are both pretty important pieces of information, and not covered by any existing certification."
More info about the Stored Value Industry Certification program is available at SVIDATASECURITY.COM.
About ProfitPoint, Inc.
ProfitPoint, Inc. is a leading provider of gift and loyalty card services to the small to medium sized merchant community. Recognized by Inc. Magazine's list of 500/5000 fastest growing private companies for two consecutive years, ProfitPoint ranked No. 59 in the US in 2008 and No. 23 in Pennsylvania in 2009. With its corporate headquarters near Philadelphia, PA, and customer care center in Franklin, TN, ProfitPoint supports its gift and loyalty cards with real-time electronic transaction processing, customizable reports, point-of-purchase marketing tools and direct marketing services. ProfitPoint specializes in the design and production of custom gift and loyalty cards, software capability and merchant education to meet each client's needs. Now serving more than 25,000 merchant locations nationwide, ProfitPoint produces over fifteen million cards per year and does more than 20 million stored value transactions on its proprietary gift and loyalty card platform. www.rewardforloyalty.com.
About SparkBase
SparkBase reinvented the stored-value industry in 2004 as the first truly independent gift and loyalty processing network. Selling only through resellers, SparkBase continues to lead in innovation with its proprietary gateway, using patent pending technologies for processing stored value transactions, developed in house at their headquarters in Cleveland, OH. For more information, visit sparkbase.com.
