The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) announced today the objectives for the Retail Financial Transactions Committee at the 2009 PCATS Annual Conference.
In making the announcement, Brad McGuinness of VeriFone, chair of the Committee noted that, "At the 2009 PCATS Annual Conference, the Retail Financial Transactions Committee will meet to approve the final POS-EPS Interface Specification and a separate Loyalty Specification that works in conjunction with EPS or as a stand alone. In addition, we will address current payment issues surrounding PCI compliance and all of the US ANSI standards work that is underway."
Mr. McGuinness added, "We will be considering two proposals from NACS to evaluate standards for PCI auditors working in the petroleum/convenience space and a possible US standard to ensure that our industry is fully represented when mobile payments come into use."
Scott Wood, Director of Standards at PCATS, stated, "Two key interface specifications are integral to Retail Financial Transactions Committee activity. Although both the EPS Working Group and the Loyalty Specification Working Group will be meeting separately, the full Committee has to approve the final draft standards that have been developed by the Working Groups for processing payment and loyalty transactions."
On the PCI Compliance front, John Hervey, PCATS Executive Director explained that "PCATS is now monitoring all of the current PCI Council standards and assisting NACS in formulating effective educational programs for industry merchants. To that end, PCATS has also announced a one-day session at the Annual Conference on PCI compliance aimed especially at smaller and mid-sized retailers to help them understand the standards and what is coming down the pike in compliance."
For more information about the 2009 PCATS Annual Conference, call +1-703-836-0919 or visit the PCATS Website at http://www.pcats2009.org.