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Some financial institutions do not communicate clearly with their independent sales organizations regarding what the ISOs need to do to get Level 4 merchants compliant with Payment Card Industry data-security standards, Deanna Rich, president of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Rich Consulting, said last week during a panel discussion at the Electronic Transactions Association Compliance Day in Dallas. Level 4 merchants process fewer than 1 million Visa Inc. transactions annually. "Some banks are not diligent about making ISOs do the right things" regarding compliance, such as using validated payment applications and service providers, she said. This creates an inconsistent message throughout the industry and enables merchants to switch acquirers, processors and ISOs if they want to avoid purchasing new equipment or software to become compliant. Value-added resellers should recommend the minimum number of changes for a merchant to become compliant, Rich said. That way "you don't get into a question of not doing the same thing as the other acquirer," she said. Making the minimum number of demands "levels the playing field" and reduces the number of "merchants leaving ISOs for the other guy down the street," Rick Allen, director of partner compliancy with Payment Processing Inc., a Newark, Calif.-based payment processor and ISO, agreed during the same discussion. A consistent message and approach in the industry leads to a more compliant environment overall, he said.
