Visa addresses data and payment card security

The conference brought together key stakeholders in the payment industry from North and West Africa and the Levant to discuss various issues around data security and payment card fraud. Participants shared best practices, emerging technologies, and ongoing industry challenges during the daylong event.

The conference promoted the widespread adoption of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which focuses on data protection and fraud prevention through common data security policies and practices. Sessions, educational seminars, and interactive workshops provided exchanges between participants allowing for a greater understanding of the issues around payment card data vulnerability and the benefits of the PCI DSS.

Tarek Elhousseiny, Visa's General Manager for North and West Africa, delivered a speech highlighting issues around payment data vulnerability, costs to merchants and companies from data loss, as well as preventative measures for merchants and companies to protect themselves in the future.

Visa has been at the forefront of the issue of data security and payment card fraud, initiating its Account Information Security (AIS) program in 2000. The program, which originally concentrated on the importance of data storage, was the precursor and foundation for the PCI DSS.

Elhousseiny said:

"It is estimated that each individual case of fraud costs an organization $15,000 on average."

He added, "However, the fraud rates in Egypt remain lower than global averages. Whether data loss is occurring accidentally by businesses or illegally through theft by individuals, the loss of data and the resulting fraud are largely preventable. We at Visa have long been a leader in pushing for more widespread and higher industry standards. It is conferences like PCI Cairo which will help continue to move the industry in the right direction."