In an effort to create more transparency and clarity in how data security standards are developed, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA and several other trade associations recently sent a joint letter to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council outlining guidelines that would make PCI credit, debit, and gift card usage more effective and cost-efficient.

Hotels and restaurants are taking the initiative to reduce costs of credit card compliance, while continuing to protect their guest’s privacy. One estimate found that PCI compliance costs American businesses in excess of $1 billion each year. However, the industry is concerned about unfair and burdensome rules when complying with the data security program used by the five major credit card companies.

“Credit card compliance costs are part of doing business in our industry,” said AH&LA President/CEO Joseph A. McInerney. “This action by AH&LA and others is an important step towards insuring that the payment means used by a majority of our guests is secure, and that our members’ compliance requirements are not burdensome, costly, or unnecessarily complex.”

This article is available in full at hotelinteractive.com.