Shift4 Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary of Tokenization; Surpassing Six Billion Tokenized Transactions

Original, Most Reliable and Secure Tokenization Solution Showcased at HITEC 2015

AUSTIN, Texas – June 17, 2015 – (PRNewswire)

Shift4 Corporation today announced the 10-year anniversary of TrueTokenization®, the first tokenization solution for payment card data on the market. TrueTokenization, which continues to be the most reliable and secure method for protecting cardholder data, has successfully surpassed more than six billion transactions since 2005.

As hospitality industry professionals convene at HITEC in Austin, TX, from June 15-18, many are searching for a method to secure cardholder data to prevent breaches and protect their brand and customers. Shift4 answers this calling with highlights such as:

  • Experience since day one – the first tokenization solution: Shift4 coined the term and announced the formal concept of payment data tokenization to the public in September 2005 to improve security practices throughout the industry. At the time, no other solution addressed the vulnerability issues associated with handling sensitive cardholder data while resolving the complexity, high cost and limitations of encryption.
  • Securing sensitive cardholder data in any merchant environment: With TrueTokenization, sensitive cardholder data is replaced with a randomized, alphanumeric representation of credit or debit card information that does not have a mathematical or one-to-one relationship to an actual card. This ensures that each TrueToken®, a non-decryptable ID that references an individual transaction, functions just as cardholder data would in the merchant environment without being traced back to a card. Shift4 has adapted the technology to create a wide breadth of tokenized payment solutions, replacing cardholder data from every possible touchpoint to improve security and simplify PCI assessments for merchants in every industry.
  • Supporting merchants’ day-to-day business: Unlike payment tokens, which offer a level of protection for a mobile device or card that points to a consumer’s credit or bank account, TrueTokenization secures the merchant’s environment and systems while supporting their business not only from a risk-management perspective, but also from the outlook of finance and operations. Merchants can use TrueTokens for analytics purposes and to retrieve transaction information for chargeback defense, credits, recurring billing, incremental authorizations and other uses. Also, because TrueTokenization is bank and processor neutral, merchants can make changes as needed without losing their access to data.
  • Compatibility with point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and EMV: TrueTokenization works hand-in-hand with Shift4’s True P2PE™, which encrypts credit and debit card information at the point a card interacts with a payment terminal. Together, TrueTokenization and True P2PE eliminate cardholder data from the merchant environment in both traditional and omni-channel merchant settings. This greatly reduces a merchant’s breach profile and PCI DSS scope while providing the data security merchants need to protect their environment when accepting magnetic stripe, EMV, NFC and even gift card payments at traditional, e-commerce and mobile points of sale.

J.D. Oder II, CTO, Shift4, said: “While the tendrils of tokenization extend back to the early 1980s, the concept was formalized out of Shift4’s commitment to answer a merchant need as expressed to us at HITEC in 2005. We wanted to relieve merchants of their reliance on sensitive cardholder data, so we designed tokenization as a simple and organic way to replace it.”

Dave Oder, CEO, Shift4, said: “With over six billion tokenized transactions over the past 10 years, Shift4 has empowered thousands of merchants to process payments in the most efficient and secure way possible. No other company has created more tokenization methodologies than Shift4 and we’re proud of its incredible success.”

Attendees at HITEC are invited to learn more about TrueTokenization and join the anniversary celebration in booth #1623. For more information about TrueTokenization, visit www.shift4.com/tokenization or call 800.265.5795.

About Shift4 Corporation
Shift4 Corporation makes it simple for merchants across all industries to securely process credit, debit, and gift card transactions. With connections to nearly every bank and processor in North America and integrations to hundreds of PMS and POS systems, Shift4’s DOLLARS ON THE NET® is the world’s largest independent payment gateway. Shift4 provides pre- and post-settlement auditing capabilities, fraud prevention tools, support for emerging technologies like EMV and mobile payments, and security solutions such as TrueTokenization® and True P2PE™, which drastically simplify PCI compliance. Shift4 is a proud merchant advocate, maintaining complete bank and processor neutrality to ensure that their customers have the freedom to switch banks and processors as needed. For more information, visit www.shift4.com.

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Media Contact

Gianna Vivo
Shift4 Corporation
702.597.2480, ext. 43300
[email protected]