HFTP's PCI Compliance Task Force Sees Big Progress a Year After Announcing Its Formation

The 12 initiatives cover a wide spectrum from certification programs, educating different groups, developing a roadmap for achieving PCI compliance, educating about encryption technology and tokenization, help with Self Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) and more.

"Because of the hospitality industry’s unique credit card processing requirements, special considerations need to be taken into account to ensure full PCI compliance. The task force chose 12 initiatives that they feel represent the heart of data security and PCI compliance challenges in the industry right now," said Jeremy Rock, CHTP, president of RockIT Group and chair of the HFTP PCI Compliance Task Force. "Given that the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has mandated a 12 step program for achieving compliance, we thought that matching their program with our own 12 Industry initiatives would highlight our strategic partnership with them."

Along with identifying the 12 initiatives, the task force has already started implementing some of the initiatives:

• An online repository is currently available on HFTP's web site. This repository is constantly being updated with educational slides, webinars, samples and articles as they become available.
• Running over the next five issues, The Bottomline magazine and the HFTP PCI Compliance Task Force feature a series of articles focusing on areas of top concern with PCI compliance and how it relates to the hospitality industry. Topics include myths and rumors, tokenization and end-to-end encryption, common chargeback disputes in hotels and more. The first issue will be available for HFTP members in the beginning of October.
• Education is a key factor in the initiatives and has been implemented through a PCI Compliance Boot Camp at HITEC 2011, in a PCI education track at HFTP's Annual Convention & Tradeshow and with European-focused education at EHTEC@HOSPACE. Jeremy King, European Director for the PCI SSC will discuss data security at EHTEC@HOSPACE.
• Creating a partnership with PCI SSC by joining the council as a participating organization to initiate a dialogue between all parties and give the hospitality industry a voice regarding PCI compliance.

"Over the past year, the HFTP PCI Compliance Task Force has brought to light just how complicated the data security issue is in the hospitality industry," said Frank Wolfe, CAE, CEO of HFTP. "The task force's goals and initiatives have grown immensely over the year as they've realized how much work needs to be done to educate and secure the industry. This group has a lot of work still to be done and HFTP is grateful to have such a dedicated group of professionals volunteering for this task force."

For more information, contact Katy Walterscheidt, HFTP PR & social media manager, at katy.walterscheidt@hftp.org, (800) 646-4387 or +1 (512) 249-5333 x27.

HFTP, Austin, Texas, USA and Maastricht, The Netherlands, founded in 1952, is the global professional association for financial and technology personnel working in hotels, clubs and other hospitality-related businesses. HFTP provides first class educational opportunities, research, and publications to members around the globe including, the premiere hospitality technology conference HITEC--founded in 1972. HFTP also awards the only hospitality specific certifications for accounting and technology --the Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive (CHAE) and the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) designations. HFTP was founded in the USA as the National Association of Hotel Accountants. For more information, visit www.hftp.org.


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