Visa, U.S. Chamber Launch Multi-City Data-Security Tour

Some 34% of small merchants invest more in locking down products and cash in their stores than in securing customer data, while the proportion doing the opposite is one-fifth, according to survey results released Monday. In addition, though 64% of the merchants say they had taken steps within the last year to better protect credit and debit card data along with other customer information (29% have done so in the past three months), the subject is far from a top priority, with the same proportion saying they rarely concern themselves with securing customer information. At the same time, 53% say their customers seldom or never worry about their personal information. And just 17% of the merchants know what information is included in a payment card's magnetic-stripe. In response, survey sponsors Visa USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday launched a multi-city campaign aimed at educating small businesses about how to protect card data an other sensitive financial information. “Merchants are increasingly locking down customer data, but there is more work to be done,” said Rosetta Jones, a vice president at Visa, in a statement. The Visa-U.S. Chamber educational campaign, which will take place in 12 cites by the time it wraps up in Cincinnati Sept. 15, starts in Portsmouth, N.H. Other cities on the tour include Gainesville, Fla., St. Paul, Minn., Murrieta, Calif., and San Antonio, Texas. Topics of the events include new fraud risks and how small merchants can protect themselves. The sessions are free to attendees, who can register to attend at the U.S. Chamber Web site. The survey, conducted between June 14 and June 22, canvassed 600 small retailers in the 12 areas covered by the tour.