June 12, 2014 - Speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 10th Annual America's Small Business Summit and Small Business Expo this week, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), an open, global forum for the development of payment card security standards, initiated a call for 50 organizations to step forward in a collaborative effort to increase payment security awareness in the global small business community.

The Passwords for Payments (P4P) initiative will educate small businesses on how to use strong passwords on point-of-sale devices and computers to reduce their chances of being breached.

"Hacking easily guessed or weak passwords on payment systems is one of the leading methods criminals use to steal valuable credit and debit card information from small businesses today," said Bob Russo, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council. "Yet, the majority of these companies don't even know there's a password on these systems, let alone where to find it or how to change it."

Organizations that share PCI SSC's vision to educate small merchants about password security in payments are invited to become official Passwords for Payments ambassadors. The coalition will have an official kick-off call on Wednesday, 09 July to discuss awareness building activities.

"Payment security is a shared responsibility. We need everyone to help educate the small business, and that's the main driver behind the P4P initiative," said Bob Russo, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council.