FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Element Payment Services Partners with Trustwave for Level 4 PCI DSS Compliance Program

CHICAGO AND PHOENIX (December 18, 2009) -- Element Payment Services, Inc. (Element), a PCI-compliant payment processing provider, has partnered with Trustwave to implement a Level 4 compliance program to help merchants achieve and maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Trustwave is the leading provider of on-demand data security and payment card industry compliance management solutions to businesses and organizations throughout the world.

The PCI DSS is the payment card industry security requirement for entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data, and has been endorsed by all the major card brands – Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Network, American Express and JCB. PCI Compliance Level 4 merchants are defined as those that process fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions and/or fewer than 1 million single card transactions per year.

As part of Element's commitment to assisting with PCI DSS compliance obligations, merchants will have access to Trustwave's TrustKeeper® 3.0. This new Web portal makes compliance validation easy and efficient for all Element merchants, including non-technical users. Using the new PCI Wizard, merchants work through a personalized, guided interview that simplifies the complex terminology of the PCI assessment into terms the merchant can understand, and uses their answers to complete the process on their behalf. By profiling merchant behavior pertaining to credit card acceptance and information security business practices, TrustKeeper 3.0 uses the information compiled and renders a result as to whether or not the merchant is compliant.

Element merchants will have access to several other features of TrustKeeper 3.0, all designed to help facilitate compliance. Some of those features include:

• TrustKeeper Agent: Trustwave's state-of-the-art software security agent is downloaded and installed on the merchant's point-of-sale (POS) systems. TrustKeeper Agent provides security features for the POS system, including: daily identification of stored track data, file integrity management and security checks on firewall and anti-virus functionality. In addition, TrustKeeper Agent identifies the POS payment application, and determines if it is recognized as a compliant PCI DSS product.
• Vulnerability Scan Management: Proprietary scanning technology ensures that both brick and mortar and ecommerce merchants maintain compliant networks and systems.
• Online Educational and Compliance Tools: On-demand help text, tutorials and optional tools such as TrustKeeper's Security Policy Advisor and Security Awareness Education ensure that merchants can efficiently complete the PCI DSS validation process.
• PCI Assistant: Online video tutorials will help guide merchants through general cardholder data security, the PCI DSS and how to comply with the PCI DSS.
• Breach Protection: Merchants enrolled in the compliance program will receive credit card breach insurance to for added protection and peace-of-mind.

Compliance support services are also available for those businesses requiring additional guidance to become PCI DSS compliant.

"Research shows small businesses are more vulnerable to credit card compromise, making this partnership critical to our merchants. By providing compliance resources, support and best practices this program will help ensure they protect their organization from a cardholder data breach," says Sean Kramer, president and CEO at Element Payment Services. "We're confident that Trustwave's proprietary technology, TrustKeeper 3.0, will help our merchants understand, facilitate and maintain their compliance efforts."

"Many small merchants are not focused on compliance and often lack the resources to ensure their environment is properly secured," says Robert J. McCullen, chairman and CEO of Trustwave. "The ease-of-use of TrustKeeper 3.0 will allow merchants to validate their compliance, resulting in a more secure payment environment and safe shopping for their consumers."

About Element Payment Services

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Element Payment Services, Inc. provides integrated payment processing solutions to merchants through partnership with leading business management software providers. Engineered using service-oriented architecture, Element's Express Processing Platform allows for easy integration and supports credit and debit card, ACH and check solutions for its merchants. Processing $4 billion in annual transaction volume, Element's secure, innovative and reliable payment solutions allow its customers to easily comply with industry security requirements such as PCI DSS, PA-DSS (PABP), significantly reducing the risk of a cardholder data breach. For more information, visit www.elementps.com.

About Trustwave

Trustwave is the leading provider of on-demand and subscription-based information security and payment card industry compliance management solutions to businesses and government entities throughout the world. For organizations faced with today's challenging data security and compliance environment, Trustwave provides a unique approach with comprehensive solutions that include its flagship TrustKeeper® compliance management software and other proprietary security solutions. Trustwave has helped thousands of organizations—ranging from Fortune 500 businesses and large financial institutions to small and medium-sized retailers—manage compliance and secure their network infrastructure, data communications and critical information assets. Trustwave is headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, China and Australia. For more information, visit https://www.trustwave.com.

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