First Data says 86% of merchants care about card security but…

A new research was released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and First Data that studied data security and fraud prevention strategies practiced at small to mid-sized retailers. A total of 651 small and mid-sized merchants completed the survey.

The report revealed that majority of respondents which is 86% care about their customer card information security and consider payment card data security as important aspect of their business. Still 64% think their business is not vulnerable to credit/debit card data theft and 60% are unaware of the costs they could incur in the event of a breach.

The survey found that while 66% of businesses are aware of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), only 49% of respondents had completed a self-assessment at the time of the survey.

The survey also showed there appears to be some confusion among retailers regarding the liability costs in the event of a data security breach. More than 60% of these smaller merchants did not realize that credit card companies are authorized to fine their business a per-card fee for every card that has to be canceled if it is determined that they are the source of a data breach. According to the 2009 U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study by the Ponemon Institute, the average cost for merchants coping with a data breach in 2009 rose to $6.7 million with the cost per customer record breached estimated at $204.