Welcome U.S. Bank, a new Principal Participating Organization (PPO) at the PCI Security Standards Council! In this special spotlight edition of our PCI Perspectives Blog, U.S. Bank’s VP PCI Program Management, Richard Mann, introduces us to his company and how they are helping to shape the future of payment security.
Tell us about your company.
U.S. Bank is the fifth largest bank in the United States, but we also have offices in many countries around the world. Founded in 1863, we have a long history of providing excellent service to our customers and partners, giving them an efficient, secure environment to conduct their financial transactions. We pride ourselves on doing the right thing and putting our customers first in everything we do.
Why did your company decide to become a Principal Participating Organization?
We have participated as an Associate Participating Organization for many years. However, we realized as a Principal Participating Organization, the opportunity to be more involved in the future of securing the payment card ecosystem. As an Acquirer, Issuer, Financial Institution, and Service Provider, it's important to us that data security, especially payment card security, continues to keep up with technological changes and threats, while building defense in-depth practices to ensure simplified, secure payment transactions for all. What better way to do that than to get more involved.
Which benefits are you most looking forward to as a Principal Participating Organization?
That's a loaded question as there are so many benefits offered. Personally, I look forward to more of my team getting to participate in the annual Community Meetings. The Principal Participating Organization provides more opportunities for that, building on education opportunities, networking, and deeper conversations with like minds throughout the industry to improve payment card security. In addition, we have Internal Security Assessors on staff and being a Principal Participating Organization provides greater training opportunities to enhance their education to better serve our organization at big discounts.
Why is it important for companies to get more involved with the PCI Security Standards Council, especially at the Principal Participating Organization level?
Every organization is different, but for us, we found that the additional group involvement and collaboration directly with the PCI Security Standards Council and the other Principal Participating Organizations provided the visibility, information, and strategy of where the industry is headed as it pertains to protecting payment card data. Regardless of how you get involved, I would encourage more involvement from all levels. The opportunity to share your voice and hear the voices of others helps make this ecosystem better. As the old adage goes, it takes a village.
What are some payment security topics that you’re interested in collaborating on?
We look forward to learning and collaborating more on the direction of the standards and conversations on new technologies. AI, quantum computing, changing algorithm strengths, new attack vectors, and many more topics are all front of mind for many of us as we work to secure this precious data. Greater collaboration and involvement from all of us will help us stay ahead, with better solutions and implementation strategies for not only meeting compliance, but also better security.
