KUALA LUMPUR: LGMS Bhd and GHL Systems Bhd (GSB) have partnered to boost the compliance of payment card industry security standards for the local merchant ecosystem.
Developed by LGMS, the solution is set to further strengthen the security of the e-payment landscape for consumers and businesses alike.
"Without the protection that PCI compliance brings, merchants could be vulnerable to costly attacks and data breaches.
"For non-compliant merchants, should a data breach occur, they could even face paying penalties ranging from US$5,000 to US$500,000," said LGMS executive chairman Fong Choong-Fook in a statement.
"Hence, this collaboration aims to simplify the process for merchants to be PCI compliant while giving them peace of mind that their cyber risks have been substantially reduced," he added.
Meanwhile, GHL chief executive officer Kevin Lee said the partnership with LGMS benefits its merchant ecosystem, stretching over a vast footprint of more than 145,000 payment touchpoints in Malaysia.
"The PCI data security standard (DSS) ensures that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain secure environments at all times," he said.
GHL could monitor merchants' security posture better and have access to their PCI DSS compliance report and evidence.
In addition, GHL would also be able to track merchants' yearly PCI DSS compliance status and progress while having in place an automated tracking and reminder function for merchants' PCI DSS compliance cycle.
Through this partnership, GHL's merchants would be offered LGMS' PCI Compliance Wizard to assess their PCI readiness and compliance.
The Wizard platform, developed in-house by which LGMS owns the intellectual property (IP), is supported and powered by official PCI-qualified security assessors (QSAs).
The solution simplifies the compliance process via step-by-step guidance, including for environmental, social and governance (ESG) tracking purposes, as it also serves as a user-friendly tool for ESG data collection purposes.
Other key benefits for merchants include monitoring their branches' postures, centralised and secure storage for PCI DSS compliance evidence, and the Wizard serving as a one-stop solution for all PCI DSS-mandated technical assessments.
Following this development, Fong also shared that LGMS has initiated plans to deploy the Wizard platform worldwide, as it also supports merchants in other regions.
"We chose to kick off by partnering with GHL as it is ASEAN's leading local non-bank acquirer and payment solutions provider," said Fong.
The platform supports global use, and LGMS also has plans to deploy the platform worldwide, partnering with banks and payment gateways globally.
This initiative ensures compliance with the PCI DSS, an information security standard used to handle credit card transactions from major card brands, which was formed in 2004 by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, JCB International and American Express.
Although these major card brands mandate the standard to protect cardholder information and reduce credit card fraud, many merchants are still non-compliant across Malaysia.
This scenario stems from these merchants' uncertainty about getting PCI DSS compliant, and they need clarification about the self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) being fully compliant.