PHOENIX, AZ / CHICAGO, IL, March 24, 2008. Multi-Systems, Inc. (MSI), a leading supplier of hotel technology and property management systems, announces compliance validation of its proprietary software, CC Direct in conjunction with WinPM version 2.0, with Visa’s Payment Application Best Practices (PABP). The application—which provides connections for authorization and batch processing—replaces the Credit Track program that MSI customers were using in previous versions. As a result, MSI is among the leading property management technology vendors currently offering a payment gateway validated PABP compliant. Trustwave, a leading provider of information security and compliance management solutions to businesses and organizations throughout the world, performed the PABP validation.

Visa’s PABP applies to software vendors who develop payment applications that store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. The annual on-site security review consists of 14 PABP requirements, including protection of card holder data, secure passwords, protection of wireless transmissions, encryption of sensitive traffic over public networks and more. MSI successfully demonstrated its compliance by submitting to this rigorous review of its CC Direct payment application with WinPM version 2.0, as required by Visa and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

To view MSI’s certification on Visa’s Web site, please visit www.visa.com/cisp and click the quick link on the right hand side of the page that says, validated payment applications.

CC Direct captures credit card data via multiple points of entry—including credit card numbers from interface points—and stores them securely. A token is used by the software to access the credit card data appropriately for processing, based on security roles. Since 1996, MSI’s unique approach in providing the credit card software integrated with property management has given MSI customers a more intuitive method for credit card processing. The license fee associated with the initial purchase allows the site unlimited ability to process transactions, without incurring per-transaction fees associated with the property management system.

“Offering a migration path to compliant software without forcing the hotel to incur additional license fees was an important factor in MSI’s decision to rewrite the credit card processing program that is used by MSI’s customers,” commented Tim Tiller, MSW, President of MSI. “We’ve created a PABP-compliant solution that will ensure the safety of credit card transactions for all of our customers, while also giving them a direct connection to their credit card processor using software supplied by MSI, reducing additional costs.”

“Validating compliance with PABP demonstrates to MSI’s customers that cardholder security is at the forefront of their business requirements for the technologies they bring to market,” says Robert J. McCullen, chairman and CEO of Trustwave. “At a time when consumers are becoming more aware of the risk in sharing their personal information with the organizations they patronize, MSI is helping merchants secure transactions for consumers staying at properties that use MSI’s payment application.”