Visa drops Global Payments from cleared processors post-hack
updated 07:35 pm EDT, Mon April 2, 2012
No longer certified secure for card transactions
Visa has dropped Global Payments from its registry of approved third-party payment card transaction processors. Visa took the step after it was revealed last Friday that the firm's security had been breached. Personal information for cardholders of nearly 1.5 million Visa and MasterCard cards could be at risk.
The actual hacking took place in late January. Initially, it was believed that only about 50,000 credit cards were involved. That number has now increased by several orders of magnitude. Global Payments claims that although come credit card information was exposed, cardholder names, addresses, and Social Security numbers remained secure.
Visa uses its registry to certify that a transaction processor meets rigid data security standards. If a processor fails to meet those standards, it warns that transactions may be vulnerable. Banks and other financial institutions still can continue to use them for Visa card transactions if they so choose.
Global Payments expects its registry status to be reinstated after it's back in compliance, but Visa hasn't confirmed for certain that this will happen. [via AP]
