McKeever's Cuts Data Security Costs

MICHAEL GARRY

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — McKeever’s Enterprises here expects a 70% to 75% reduction in data security costs as a result of adopting an end-to-end encryption system from WorldPay, Atlanta.

After running a 30-day pilot, McKeever's implemented the system this year in its nine Price Chopper stores in the Kansas City area. The savings are tied to less complex PCI security audits and compliance costs made possible by the system, said Tim Cosens, director of information technology for McKeever's.

The system, called VeriShield Protect, which was developed by VeriFone Systems, San Jose, Calif., encrypts credit card numbers and magnetic-stripe data at the moment of swipe or manual number entry at the payment terminal. The data remains encrypted until its arrival at WorldPay, McKeever's card acquirer and processor, which is connected to the card brands. The payment terminals are equipped with a tamper-resistant security module (TSM) that protects the encryption keys from tampering.

The cost of the E2EE system is a per transaction fee in the range of the fee charged for processing the transaction, said Ian Drysdale, WorldPay’s business development senior vice president.