Heartland First to Offer Comprehensive Merchant Breach Warranty

  • Breach warranty is unparalleled in industry.
  • Breach warranty is not an insurance policy with caveats.
  • Breach warranty provides financial protection against breach costs.

(Photo: Business Wire)

PRINCETON, N.J.--()--Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE:HPY), one of the nation’s largest payment processors, today announced it is the first company to offer a comprehensive warranty that protects businesses from payment card breach losses in the event of a breach.

Heartland’s breach warranty is offered at no charge to its Heartland Secure™ merchants in the first year and can be extended for $8.33 per month per card-entry device. To be covered under the warranty, a merchant must have a Heartland Secure-certified device and process payments through Heartland on that device.

Key Highlights/Facts

  • Heartland Secure™ is a comprehensive credit/debit card data secure payment solution that combines three powerful technologies – EMV, the Heartland E3® end-to-end encryption technology and tokenization – working in unison to provide merchants with the highest level of protection for card-present transactions.
  • Although EMV compliance is not a government or card brand mandate, it is up to the merchant to implement EMV-compliant terminals. Merchants who decide to implement EMV technology will expose their business to fewer disputes over card-acceptance fraud while boosting consumer confidence.
  • The breach warranty is straightforward. If the encryption fails on a Heartland Secure machine, Heartland will reimburse the merchant for the amount of compliance fines, fees and/or assessments the merchant must pay to the card brands, issuing banks and acquiring bank(s).
  • Encryption is an important part of Heartland Secure™. Small businesses are the new target for cyber criminals. According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60 percent of breached small businesses go out of business within six months.
  • The costs associated with computer and website attacks are well into the thousands and even millions of dollars for a small company, according to the National Small Business Association. The Heartland Secure™ encryption changes card data from the merchant’s POS system and network into meaningless characters, minimizing the chance of that card data being stolen and monetized.

Supporting Quotes

  • Robert O. Carr, chairman and CEO, Heartland

“Protecting customers is our number one priority and the breach warranty that we’ve developed will cover a merchant’s breach-related costs in the case of a breach of card numbers. Heartland Secure technology materially reduces the opportunity for criminals to monetize AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encrypted card data.”

“Knowing that cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated and small businesses are their new targets, our Heartland breach warranty provides peace of mind. The merchants with Heartland Secure™-certified devices, who are processing with us, are fully protected by the breach warranty.”

  • Michael English, executive director, Product Development, Heartland

“Many small business owners aren’t aware of the magnitude of data security breaches or the potential liabilities lurking around the corner. Damage to a company’s reputation can be catastrophic, and the fines can be overwhelming. By combining EMV, encryption and tokenization, Heartland eliminates clear text-card data from the merchant’s point-of-sale system and network. As we have seen in recent breaches at major retailers and restaurants, it is difficult to maintain a secure network. Through encryption and tokenization, a merchant eliminates clear text card data so if their network is breached, there is no card data to steal and monetize.”

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Supporting Resources

About Heartland

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE: HPY), the fifth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, point of sale, mobile commerce, e-commerce, marketing solutions, security technology, payroll solutions, and related business solutions and services to more than 300,000 business and educational locations nationwide. A FORTUNE 1000 company, Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. Heartland also established The Sales Professional Bill of Rights to advocate for the rights of sales professionals everywhere. More detailed information can be found at HeartlandPaymentSystems.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including risks and additional factors that are described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective and current investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Contacts

Heartland:
Kevin Petschow, +1 312-205-1607
Kevin.Petschow@e-hps.com
or
G&S Business Communications:
Chandra Hayslett, +1 212-697-2600, ext. 1267
chayslett@gscommunications.com

Contacts

Heartland:
Kevin Petschow, +1 312-205-1607
Kevin.Petschow@e-hps.com
or
G&S Business Communications:
Chandra Hayslett, +1 212-697-2600, ext. 1267
chayslett@gscommunications.com