The end of CardSystems?

The credit card company's said yesterday they would look for other card processors after 40 million card holders personal identity was put at risk by a CardSystems security breach.

"If they decide to move forward, they will put us out of business," said John Perry, president at CardSystems in an interview with the New York Times. "We are unaware in all of the breaches that have occurred on the system in the past that anyone has ever been terminated from the system [of credit card dealers and payment processors]."

In the wake of the breaches CardSystems has decided to testify before Congress to defend itself.

"I look forward to the opportunity to share CardSystems' story with the Subcommittee. We regret that this security incident occurred," said Perry in a company statement. "Since that time, CardSystems has taken significant steps to secure its network and restore its compliance with industry security standards."

CardSystems has given itself an August 31 deadline to improve its security. The auditing company in charge of monitoring the changes believes the company will meet its target.

"Based on the current project schedule, it is estimated that a Report on Compliance (ROC) for CardSystems will be submitted to Visa U.S.A., MasterCard, American Express and Discover on or before August 31, 2005, for compliance validation," a company spokesperson said. "We are disappointed that Visa and American Express have announced their intention to discontinue doing business with CardSystems, and urge them to reconsider. If Visa and American Express do not reconsider, the effect of their decision on thousands of our merchants is likely to be significant and could disrupt the operation of their payment card system."

SC approached CardSystems for direct comment but as yet has received none.

www.cardsystems.com