Visa USA has recognized Montrose Travel, a $110 million full-service travel agency headquartered in Los Angeles, with a listing on its Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) that identifies policy-compliant service providers. CISP is Visa USA's version of the Payment Card Industry's (PCI) Data Security Standard. The listing protects consumers against abuse of credit-card data.
"Montrose Travel is proud to be listed on Visa USA's website as one of the few travel companies that have achieved this accomplishment," says Joe McClure, president of Montrose Travel. "Visa's standards are rigorous and for good reason. While this project has taken over a year to complete and touched virtually every internal and external aspect of our business, the investment in both time and money has been well worth it. All Montrose Travel customers now have the peace of mind to know their credit-card data is safe and secure."
PCI is a rigid set of security standards that have been agreed to by the payment-card industry as a minimum standard that people who accept credit cards must handle. The standard examines multiple aspects of a company's operations, including network security, data integrity standard, physical access controls and process and policy review, Montrose said.
By insuring the PCI/CISP standards are met, people who use compliant service providers and merchants can trust that the service provider is taking the necessary and appropriate steps to protect them against credit-card misuse and identity theft. While it is expected that over time all companies who handle and process credit cards must become PCI compliant, Montrose Travel was an early adopter of the security standards imposed by PCI, the company said.
Armed with an industry-leading travel fulfillment redemption website offering financial institutions the choice of six unique rewards platforms each built on a sophisticated rules engine allowing program providers the flexibility to determine restrictions around redemptions, Montrose Travel's Loyalty/Rewards Division is set to break historical sales and transaction records in 2009.
Visit www.montrosetravel.com.