The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council is seeking to broaden industry participation with its third set of advisory board members since the initial board was convened in 2007.
The Wakefield, Mass., council maintains the PCI Data Security Standard and other rules that describe how merchants and other companies should protect the payment data they handle. Merchants of different sizes undergo different degrees of assessment to validate their compliance. The rules are typically enforced by the card brands.
The council said it is seeking board members from diverse industry sectors, including representatives of government, the health care and hospitality industries, and financial institutions such as acquirers and issuers, payment processors, technology vendors and general merchants involved in securing payment card transactions and data, a representative said.
"PCI data security is of fundamental importance for anyone handling payment cards, and we want to engage participants from all types of industries and sectors in order to get broad perspectives to help set the council's agenda," the representative said.
Members of the 21-person board each serve two-year terms, running, in this case, from mid-2011 to mid-2013. The board meets periodically to advise the council on strategic and technical issues regarding the design and enforcement of payment card security standards.
Fourteen seats on the board are available for nominations from the 600 organizations participating in the council.
Its executive committee is to appoint an additional seven board members to ensure broad industry and geographical participation on the council.
"Many of the tools and resources you see from the PCI Security Standards Council today … were developed with the board's ideas and input," Bob Russo, the council's general manager, said in a Jan. 27 press release.
Russo said that representatives of all participating organizations are invited to consider running for board seats.
Nominations are to close Feb. 25, and voting is to occur from mid-March to early April. The council will announce the winning candidates in early May.
