The standards are endorsed by the major credit card providers, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. As a participating organization, Higher One will now have access to the latest payment card security standards from the council and be able to provide feedback on the standards. In an era of increasingly sophisticated attacks on systems, adhering to the PCI DSS represents an entity’s best protection against data criminals.

“The PCI Security Standards Council is committed to helping everyone involved in the payment chain protect consumer payment data,” said Bob Russo, general manager of the PCI Security Standards Council.

“We are pleased to join the PCI Security Standards Council,” explained Dean Hatton, Higher One’s president and CEO. “As Higher One grows and we offer additional services, such as OnePay—a service designed to assist institutions of higher education with the collection of payments, we will continue to ensure all the necessary steps to protect customer security are taken. Joining the Council is an excellent way for us to participate in the dialogue surrounding ways to keep consumer payment data safe.”