With Certification in Hand, Pivotal Aims FlexPoint Encryption Service at ISVs, VARs

Independent sales organization Pivotal Payments Inc. says its FlexPoint point-to-point encryption service for point-of-sale software systems has been certified by its processor, Total System Services Inc. (TSYS).

FlexPoint, which launched in 2014 in Canada, encrypts payment data directly on the payment device and sends the encrypted data directly to the processor, without storing it in the POS software, a Pivotal spokesman tells Digital Transactions News.

Pivotal is selling the encryption service primarily to independent software vendors and value-added resellers, which work with POS system developers.

By encrypting the payments data, FlexPoint can help reduce the merchant’s scope for compliance under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

“Since the encrypted data is sent to a point of secure decryption outside the merchant's environment, in the event of a breach, liability is pushed upstream to the processor,” Pivotal says in a press release. “FlexPoint removes many expensive hurdles for PCI certification and also allows POS software developers and vendors to reduce time and cost associated with PA-DSS audits.”

The encryption service is one component of Pivotal’s FlexPoint program. It also offers EMV-acceptance services, near-field communication (NFC) and mobile payments, and cloud-based POS-terminal management.

Pricing for FlexPoint was not immediately available.

Pivotal, with headquarters in Plano, Texas, says it processes more than $12 billion in bank card volume annually.