XAC To Use Voltage Security’s SecureData Program

Point-of-sale terminal maker XAC Automation Corp. will use advanced payment-data encryption technology from Voltage Security Inc. in its new devices, Voltage announced this week.

Taiwan-based XAC is the second terminal maker to use Voltage’s SecureData payment-encryption software. Hypercom announced in October it would use the technology in its hardware (see story).

XAC payment devices, such as countertop and wireless terminals and electronic cash registers, that incorporate the technology, will be available within 60 days, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Voltage says.

Payment card data are encrypted at the swipe and decrypted at the processor. The data cannot be unencrypted without the use of a decryption key, Voltage says. Processors must have the SecureData decryption technology installed to decipher the transaction data.

The transaction process for merchants using SecureData-equipped devices is no different from that of other terminals, other than reducing their exposure to violating Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council requirements, Voltage says. The exposure is reduced because the merchant’s payment system will not hold the customer’s primary account number, says Mark Bower, Voltage vice president of product management.

The revenue model for the advanced encryption service does not rely on recurring merchant fees, Bower adds. Instead, Voltage collects a licensing fee, as it did with Heartland Payment Systems Inc. last year, Bower says (see story). Heartland prepurchased the licenses for resale to its merchants, he says.