Introduction
In a 2021 study, 91% of breach attacks on customer payment information did not generate an alert. In fact, in 2020, none of the 43% organizations who were PCI DSS certified were 100% PCI DSS compliant at the time of a breach. It’s almost like Thor heading to war without his hammer.
It highlights a critical challenge for property management systems (PMS). PCI compliance rules keep changing and companies lack the up-to-date expertise to maintain them. Let’s read further to understand data security challenges for PMS and possible solutions.
Payment security challenges in property management systems
Property management systems, by their nature of business, have integrations with various third party services like OTAs, wholesalers, and payment gateways. This comes with handling vast amounts of data, including sensitive information such as client’s personal details and credit card information. Such information needs to be guarded in a manner that ensures maximum security and next to nil breaches. But it gets harder to do so, when each integration point is a potential invite to vulnerability.
As per a 2024 study, half the businesses in the UK itself experienced some form of cyber security breach.
To stand guard against data theft, PMS need to have in place:
- Strong encryption methods to protect data in transit and at rest.
- Tokenization technology to shield their data treasures.
- Access control mechanisms with multi-factor authentication to manage who can access data.
- A continuous monitoring system to ensure all other systems are working at their best, and so much more.
All of these security technologies fall under the umbrella of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance.
PCI DSS sets the standard for protecting cardholder data and is mandated by credit card companies to ensure payment security. Achieving PCI DSS certification requires checking the boxes for 12 key requirements, 78 base requirements, and going through 400 test procedures to see if you are compliant. Miss one, and it’s equivalent to taking on Thanos without the infinity stones.
Su Tokens as the primary payment solution
Su tokens are designed to simplify and secure credit card transactions for non-PCI certified businesses in the industry. It essentially serves as a link between non-PCI certified PMS and payment gateways, enabling safe transactions.
How does it do that?
Su tokens substitute sensitive payment information such as credit card details with a non-sensitive equivalent, in this case, the randomly generated one-time use Su tokens (think of it as plastic chips used instead of money at a casino) to hide the sensitive data. How do Su tokens do that? Su provides a set of Su Token APIs that allows PMS partners connected with Su (or not) to store and fetch credit card details within the Su Token system itself. This eliminates the need for PMS to store and manage data inventory within their own systems, thus reducing data breaches, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, and bringing flexibility in payments with multiple partners.
Not so surprisingly, only 36% of the businesses are PCI DSS compliant, and the trend is only going downwards since 2016. Translation: Companies that accept card payment data are lowering the bar for data security. This calls to the importance of having a channel manager who simplifies PCI DSS compliance for you. Su tokens or Su-per tokens? Hmm…
Advance vault technology
When tokens are generated for sensitive information, the original data is stored within a token locker, such as a secured Vault Technology, which maintains the mapping key between the tokens and the original data. The secure vault stores the credit card information in a sophisticated “maze” system. This system is responsible for generating a token linked to the original data. No one possesses the key to this information without authorization.
How does it work?
- Credit card information is entered.
- The information is then encrypted within the vault.
- The encrypted data is placed within the digital maze.
- Maze generates a unique token linked to the data.
- System uses tokens within network servers to process transactions.
- The card details are never exposed or transmitted in the process.
World-class data security
Su is the most advanced PCI DSS certified solution in the industry. This certification is a testament of our rigorous efforts to maintain unparalleled data security, adhering to the stringent standards set by the payment card industry. We are not only more reliable but also a more cost-effective solution, when compared to opting for external data protection solutions or building your own API technology.
Building your own API is no piece of cake. You are looking at software cost, hardware cost, integration expenses, developer fees, licensing fees, and the list is endless.
(For a detailed idea on considerations involved for building APIs, check our blog “Power of Automation for PMS: Strategy, Benefits and Considerations for Organizational Success.”)
Minimum cost of outsourcing security services starts at $2000-$3500 per month. The costs can go a hulk level up depending upon the size of your organization and complexity of your needs. Plus, if your single provider doesn’t cater to all that you need, you are looking at juggling multiple providers, each with their own associated ongoing costs such as subscription costs, maintenance costs, transaction-based costs, and audit expenses.
Benefits of Su tokens for PMS
- Su token system works as a safe house to store and manage sensitive data, significantly reducing the risk of data breaches.
- By handling storage and processing of credit card data, Su tokens lessens the burden of PCI DSS compliance for PMS providers.
- PMS partners can seamlessly integrate Su tokens into their existing system, streamlining credit card processing.
- PMS can serve as a central hub where data from all parties converges. As PMS partners have integrations with OTAs and other third party services, Su tokens can simplify transactions with all these channels, eliminating operational hassle for PMS.
- The Su token system ensures data privacy by separating sensitive information from that of day to day operations, ensuring peace of mind for all parties involved.
- Su tokens save the costs PMS would incur on individual PCI DSS compliance investments.
- The tokens cut the need to re-enter card details for every transaction, making the payment process faster and frictionless.
- Su tokens can accommodate businesses of various size and transaction volume, making it a flexible and scalable solution.
- Su tokens ensure compliance with industry regulations for data security, making it a stark (if you know what we mean) contender when it comes to protecting your data.
Hospitality tech industry is one of the least PCI DSS compliant industries. Non-compliance is only manageable if you have deep pockets. We are talking upwards of $5000-$10000 in penalties a month for violations. Even with the high number of breaches, measures taken for security almost seem lazy. This calls to the critical need of having a channel manager who can take the burden off your shoulders. Su tokens are designed to handle the challenges of PCI compliance and make your life easy because trust us when we say “We can do it all day.”
