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Equiant
Leads Industry in Security and Compliance
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State-of-the-Art
Protection for Account and Credit Card Data
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Scottsdale,
AZ – April 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / Equiant,
a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based account receivables servicing provider, has taken
the security of consumer account and credit data to new levels. Equiant
is a member of the prestigious Visa Global Registry of Service Providers
(www.visa.com/splisting), which demonstrates Equiant’s commitment to the
strict security standards required by the credit card industry and full
compliance with PCI regulations. Visa recommends, “Clients and merchants
should reference the site regularly as part of their due-diligence process
and should only use service providers that are listed on the Registry for
outsourcing their payment-related services. “ Add to that the facts that
Equiant is SSAE 16 Type 2 Compliant and has moved to a secure Tier IV Gold
cloud-based data center, and the message is clear.
“We
have taken every measure practical to ensure the integrity of our clients’
consumer data,” says Peter Moody, vice president of business development.
“In today’s environment, when headlines constantly report data breaches,
companies need to ensure that not only their own companies have protections
in place, but also any vendors they share information with.”
A recently
released Verizon 2015 PCI Compliance Report revealed that just 28.6 percent
of companies are PCI level 1 compliant and more than 80 percent have failed
interim compliance assessments. Equiant has maintained its PCI Level 1
status since 2011 and has successfully renewed annually.
The
SSAE 16 (Soc. 1) Type II report examines controls at a service organization
relevant to their internal controls over financial reporting. Organizations
are required to provide the service auditor with a written description
of their systems and their controls, as well as the effectiveness of those
controls.
The
move to a secure Tier IV Gold cloud-based hosting platform has led to several
advantages for Equiant. First, the dedicated cloud environment has increased
the security of Equiant’s data while assuring quick disaster recovery.
Even better, the move has sped up report processing. “This has completely
transformed our month-end reporting processes,” says Don Kim, chief information
officer at Equiant. “Depending upon size and complexity, reports are completed
and delivered to customers 500 percent faster on average, which means no
more delays and very satisfied customers.”
Although
the most recent data security efforts have been for electronic records,
Equiant takes document custody just as seriously. Deeds and other collateral
are stored in a secured document vault, engineered to a two-hour fire rating
standard, with a pre-charged fire suppression system and a 24/7 camera
with live monitoring for fire or security breaches. “Access to the room
is controlled with a key fob reader that allows only certain security levels,”
Moody says. “Even as a vice president, I can’t go in there.”
Equiant
is one of the leading timeshare servicers in the United States with a serviced
portfolio that exceeds $1 billion and includes more than 110,000 individual
consumer loans. Over the past 28 years, Equiant has serviced more than
1.5 million loans and 1.25 million maintenance fees accounts. Its array
of products includes receivables and maintenance fee servicing, invoicing
and payment processing, point of sale merchant processing, delinquency
control, on-site transitional staffing, document custody, trustee services,
and analytic reporting. To learn more about Equiant’s industry-leading
security and receivables servicing, call Moody at 480-636-4888 or visit
www.equiant.com.
For
more information, contact:
Peter
Moody
VP
of Business Development
480-636-4888
or
Judy
Kenninger
317-858-8744
Kenninger
Communications |