WASHINGTON, DC—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) has teamed up with other associations to form a new cyber security partnership, which will focus on exploring paths to increased information sharing, better card security technology and maintaining the trust of customers.
Discussion regarding the partnership was initiated by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), joined by the American Bankers Association (ABA), the AH&LA, The Clearing House (TCH), the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the National Associations of Convenience Stores (NACS), the National Grocers Association (NGA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and the National Retail Federation (NRF).
“The U.S. hotel industry is committed to protecting the confidential data of our customers,” said Katherine Lugar, president & CEO of the AH&LA. “We look forward to working with merchant and financial groups to advance measures to further enhance data security.”
The partnership will encourage collaboration across the industries, focused on the following principles: information sharing is paramount to warding off cyber attacks and protecting data; other innovative technologies must be implemented, such as systems that will transmit payment data in a way that is unique and dynamic to reduce the risks; and partnerships must be forged among all stakeholders of the payments ecosystem to collaborate on long-term, comprehensive solutions to the threats that are growing to card-not-present situations and the mobile environment.
The participating trade associations will form working groups made up of themselves, member companies and other stakeholders. The working groups will be focused on increasing threat information sharing, innovative technologies that adds safeguards to protect consumers within the payment system and other areas like national data breach laws.