Effective July 2010, all PMS and POS systems must be certified by a third party security auditor and listed as a certified payment application. Failure to comply could result in substantial fines from Visa and MasterCard that could potentially be levied to both the merchant and the PMS/POS provider. Additionally, credit card processors are prohibited from processing for merchants using non-PCI compliant systems, beginning July 2010. For a list of applicable dates, see link below:
http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/cisp_payment_applications.html#anchor_3
Once a PMS or POS company has been certified, they will appear on the PCI Security Standards Council's published list of validated payment applications. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB all have seats on this council. For more information, see link below:
http://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/vpa/
For many merchants, SaleSynergy may provide financing opportunities for technology upgrades pursuant to PCI compliance upgrades. Please contact us for more information.