CardSystems Termination by Visa USA Final

Péralte C. Paul reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Visa USA announced Wednesday it will stand by its original decision that CardSystems Solutions no longer will be allowed to process payments on Visa-branded credit and debit cards after Oct. 31.

After the breach was revealed, Visa gave its member banks who use CardSystems until Oct. 31 to find another processor. But Visa agreed to hold further talks with CardSystems at the request of U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), because 90 of the Atlanta company's 115 employees work at a Tucson processing center. The remaining 25 are at CardSystem's Atlanta headquarters. Those talks did not dissuade the credit card giant from its earlier stance, a Visa spokesman said.

In a related story, Paul reports on how the CardSystems breach experience has affected other payment processors including TSYS.

"Everyone in this business has got to understand that their security represents a real reputational risk, not only for them, but for the long-term health and well-being of the entire industry," said Phil W. Tomlinson, TSYS' chief executive officer. "We can't allow these breaches to continue," he said. "If not, the regulators will do it for all of us, and it will not eliminate the sloppy or rogue players."