The Electronic Payments Coalition sponsors the subsequent articles.  ,
Now, we swipe our cards for almost all – purchasing items online, going to the store for regular essentials, yet when making charitable donations. What you definitely are unaware of is what goes on in the background to facilitate this ease of access.
These fast, smooth transactions are attributable to the powerful payment processing networks that banks and card companies are authorized to and protected by. Their broad global economic systems enable safe, reliable, and efficient digital payments for everyday purchases. The majority of us, and we should n’t, always consider the safety of our information. These techniques have made a lot of money to safeguard your transactions, giving you peace of mind when you use your credit card to click.
No every business, however, invests as much in maintaining its security. Every morning, 780, 000 information records are lost through breaches and spying efforts, as retailers often fall prey to data breaches, malicious attacks, and more.
Legislation that was recently introduced by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL ) and supported by their corporate megastore allies would impose new requirements on how your credit card transactions are handled. The proposed legislation would allow businesses to switch to a less expensive, less safe router and route their cards to substitute networks.
Financial institutions have consistently invested billions of dollars in data protection because they fully understand how crucial it is to safeguarding their clients ‘ sensitive data. Banks and credit unions operate under stringent data protection compliance standards and are well-versed in the detail required to work with vulnerable economic data.
Personal data would no longer be held by trusted financial systems by the Durbin-Marsh bill; otherwise, it would be transferred to megastores, who are willing to compromise their clients ‘ data security in order to increase their profits.
A report from the Progressive Policy Institute ( PPI ) provides more insight into how shifting routing decisions from corporate retailers will increase the risk of data breaches. It demonstrates the significant information vulnerabilities that retailers like Target, Home Depot, and Wawa have seen in recent years.
These retail megastores did n’t safeguard customers ‘ data until it was too late. The lawyer generals in the Wawa event pointed out that the convenience store and gas company did not have sensible security measures in place to guard consumer data. Home Depot did not assign a chief information security officer until after their extensive data breach.
Americans have enough financial concerns to be concerned about, but we ca n’t be worried about the security of our data either.
With the Durbin-Marshall Act, there are other threats to the financial security of low-to-moderate-income ( LMI ) Americans as well. Credit card reward programs are also at risk.
A recent study found that nearly 70 % of LMI cardholders use rewards cards, with spikes occurring in November and December during the holiday season and the late summer ( back to school season ). Families turn to reward benefits to offset costs as they look to offset additional expenses during this financially vulnerable period. If this harmful legislation is passed, this will no longer be possible.
It’s time for Senators Durbin and Marshall to decide who they truly represent: hard- working, everyday Americans or the corporate megastores. It should n’t be a hard decision to make.
