Payment processing security trends in the catering industry

The catering industry has for some time now emerged as one of the businesses most affected by security breaches and card and identity theft. In reply to the increased threat, card brands have begun insisting on stricter rules when it comes to handling credit card payments.

Fast Casual reports that there is still a month to go to the deadline imposed to all credit card processors’ customers (merchants/sites) that requires them to use Point of Sale devices which comply with the PCI PIN Entry Devices and the Payment Application Data Security Standard, which covers the hardware and software that is used to process the payments effected with credit and debit cards, and which must be certified.

Failure to comply with those standards will be punished with fines and/or possibly even lose the ability to process payment cards. Other impeding deadlines (which have not yet been defined) will require POS PIN pads to transmit data to processors using the Triple Data Encryption Standard.

Another threat to the security of the customers’ data that has to be addressed is the practice of “skimming” – theft of credit card data performed by the employees and its misuse or further sale to cybercriminals. To decrease the possibility of this harmful practice taking place, restaurant operators should look into the possibility of modifying certain organizational processes.

One of the ways that skimming could be prevented is the use of wireless POS PIN devices that allow the customer to pay at the table. Credit card owners benefit from this because the card never leaves their sight, while for the employees the possibility of receiving a tip increases since most devices have prompts with preset tip amounts. Also, the staff can service tables faster – which equals a faster table turnover.