A year after announcing its plans to form a PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliance Task Force, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) is moving forward with 12 different initiatives that relate to credit card and data security in the hospitality industry. 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 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 [email protected], (800) 646-4387 or +1 (512) 249-5333 x27.

About HFTP

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in the EU and Middle East. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues, and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com® and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org. For the latest news, visit the HFTP News page at news.hftp.org and the HFTP Connect blog at blog.hftp.org.

Katy Walterscheidt
Communications Specialist
+1 (512) 249-5333 (Ext 27)
HFTP