Level 4 merchants soon must use only PCI-certified QIR professionals. NYC area IT security consultant one of only 62 PCI Qualified Integrators worldwide
Hoboken, NJ (Vocus) January 20, 2016 – eMazzanti Technologies, a New York City area retail IT consultant and managed services provider, today announced that it is one of a limited number of organizations qualified to help retailers meet the approaching VISA-mandated requirement that level 4 merchants use only PCI validated QIR professionals to implement, integrate, maintain or service their integrated POS systems.
Company leadership explained that the announcement is necessary to avoid potential confusion in the marketplace. eMazzanti is a single-source retail technology provider and currently one of only 62 companies worldwide to be qualified as a PCI Qualified Integrator under the stringent certification standards of the PCI Security Standards Council Qualified Integrators and Resellers (QIR) program.
“The new VISA requirements mean that relatively few payment technology providers are ready to install and service merchant POS systems,” stated Carl Mazzanti, CEO, eMazzanti Technologies. “As a PCI Security Standards Council Participating Organization and one of the first to be QIR certified, merchants can be confident that eMazzanti will provide the highest quality POS application and terminal services.”
New VISA Requirements
VISA advised merchants and their agents in a security bulletin dated October 29, 2015, that “merchants remain targets of hackers who are attempting to compromise payment data” by exploiting improper network configuration, poor password protection and insufficient remote access security.
To further secure the payment system and decrease the risk of merchant security compromises, VISA is requiring “all newly boarded Level 4 merchants to use only Payment Card Industry (PCI)-certified QIR professionals.” Level 4 refers to merchants that are owner-operated locations of franchise or corporate organizations.
- Effective March 31, 2016, credit card acquirers are directed to require all new Level 4 merchants to use only PCI-certified QIR professionals listed on the PCI SSC website for POS terminal installation, application implementation and integration.
- Effective January 31, 2017, acquirers must also require all existing Level 4 merchants to use professionals from companies with the PCI QIR certification for servicing their POS terminals and applications.
The PCI QIR Program
The QIR program was launched in late 2012 to strengthen point-of-sale security in the wake of numerous merchant POS breaches. Stephen W Orfei, General Manager of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, said that the QIR Program targets one of the weakest security points in the payments chain, the point of sale.
To earn the QIR qualification in 2015, eMazzanti Technologies technicians received training focused on the secure installation and maintenance of validated payment applications into merchant environments with an emphasis on buttressing clients’ PCI DSS compliance efforts.
As the sixth organization to successfully complete the training and testing at a certified testing center, eMazzanti earned a place on the PCI SSC global list of QIR Companies, a trusted resource for merchants to select PCI approved partners.
eMazzanti Technologies continues to work with the PCI Security Standards Council as a Participating Organization to improve payment data security worldwide through the ongoing development of the PCI Security Standards.
Single-source Retail Technology
With comprehensive retail payment technology services and capabilities, eMazzanti Technologies is a single-source technology partner for retailers. eMazzanti offers EMV Chip and Pin technology migration, PCI compliance and Ecommerce services, as well as POS systems, network management and security, credit cards for testing and training, and full merchant services.
Related resource information:
Humanizing Retail Technology with Small Touches
5 Things Retailers Should Know about the Shift to EMV Card Technology
Download VISA QIR Requirement PDF
