PIN Security Program

Safeguarding Visa, Plus and Interlink PIN Transactions

The Visa® PIN Security Program is a global program designed to support all participants in the acquiring transaction processing chain to maintain the highest level of Personal Identification Number (PIN) security. The program is based on the Payment Card Industry (PCI) PIN Security Requirements, a set of mandatory requirements for the secure management, processing and transmission of cardholder PINs during transaction processing at ATM and point-of-sale (POS) PIN-entry devices (PEDs). The PCI PIN Security Requirements compliment the PCI Data Security Standards (DSS) for entities that accept or process PIN transactions at POS and ATMs. PIN accepting entities must be fully compliant with the PCI PIN Security Requirements.

PIN Security Program compliance basics

Visa has worked with many member financial institutions, as well as industry standards organizations to create security standards for the protection of PINs accepted at ATM and POS PEDs. Payment system participants, processors, ATM deployers, Acquirers, merchants and their agents that process and / or accept cardholder PINs and manage encryption keys must be in full compliance with the PCI PIN Security Requirements. Additionally, all payment system participants, acquirers and their agents must comply with Visa’s Triple DES (TDES) and PED testing requirements. To ensure compliance with the program, Visa requires annual PIN security validation from all designated program participants.

PIN Entry Devices

Visa mandates require that all PIN accepting entities, ATM deployers, merchants and members use Visa-approved and lab-evaluated devices that support both hardware and software security requirements to protect PINs as they are entered.

Listing of Visa Approved PIN Entry Devices

Triple Data Encryption Standard (TDES) Global Mandates

Visa has established end-to-end mandates for TDES usage to protect online PIN-based transactions processed within the POS, ATM and host systems. Click here for more information.

For more information

To learn more about the Visa PIN Security Program, including PIN entry device compliance and testing mandates, please visit www.visa.com/pin.