November 21, 2013 - The Logic Group, UK's leading Payment Service Provider, today announced that Solve DataShield, its Point to Point Encryption (P2PE) solution, is the first in the UK to achieve validation by the Payments Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC).

In May 2013, the PCI SSC announced that The Logic Group was the first company worldwide to achieve P2PE application validation. This was the first step towards today's achievement, which validates the entire solution - not just the application. In its entirety, the solution comprises the hardware (including a PIN Entry Device), software and business processes necessary for encrypting card transactions at the point of capture. When implemented correctly, these transactions are then transmitted securely across a merchant's estate, no longer within scope of a PCI DSS audit. This can significantly reduce the effort and cost of compliance for a merchant.

Working with a number of prominent partners in the industry, the validation is another example of The Logic Group's strategic intent to lead in the world of payment security and compliance. As the first company in the UK to receive this validation, The Logic Group continues to build on its success in helping merchants to increase payments security whilst reducing the overall cost of compliance. With a track record of being the first to market with products that are PCI compliant, The Logic Group provides clients with a long-term partnership commitment and the benefit of over a decade of PCI expertise. Milestones along the way have included:

• 2006 - Europe's first multichannel PCI DSS compliant managed service
• 2012 - Solve Centurion payment authorisation and settlement platform achieves Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA DSS) validation
• 2013 - The World's first PCI validated P2PE application

Robin Adams, Director of Technical Strategy & Architecture at The Logic Group, said: "Until now merchants have been burdened with the task of securing and managing customer data to limit risk and demonstrate PCI compliance, often having to invest millions in the process. The Logic Group's validated P2PE solution will help to reduce merchant's scope of PCI DSS and significantly reduce their costs and resource requirements."

He added, "We continue to invest in our P2PE capability demonstrating our commitment to the market and our clients to provide them with secure, compliant, high quality and high performing payment products and services."