Auto Rental Software Leader Bluebird Selects Element Payment Services To Provide PCI DSS Compliant Processing To Customers

A strategic partnership between Bluebird and Element Payment Services will provide auto rental businesses with fully integrated, simple and secure payment processing solutions to compliment their business management software application.

Phoenix, AZ – Bluebird Auto Rental Systems (BARS), the leading provider of software solutions for the auto rental industry, has selected Element Payment Services, the industry leader in PCI DSS compliant payment processing as its preferred processing partner. Through this partnership, Element will provide fully integrated processing services to BARS customers using the RentWorks Version 4 software application.

“In order to provide electronic transaction processing services to auto rental merchants, processors are required to receive specialized certification. Element recently completed these requirements and is pleased to provide RentWorks customers with our secure suite of processing solutions,” says Sean Kramer, president and CEO at Element.

Earlier this year, BARS completed the process of having RentWorks Version 4 validated for compliance with the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), a requirement that all software vendors whose applications are sold, distributed or licensed to third parties and handle cardholder data must undergo. By July 1, 2010 all merchants must use only PA-DSS validated payment applications in order for their own businesses to comply with Visa’s PCI DSS requirements. If not, businesses risk fines, audits and may lose the ability to accept credit cards entirely.

“With our PA-DSS validation and Element as our processing partner, auto rental companies can deploy RentWorks 4 with confidence, knowing that they are properly protecting cardholder data within their point of sale applications. This is an important step towards meeting Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for merchants,” says Angela Margolit, president of Bluebird Auto Rental Systems.

BARS selected Element as its preferred processing partner for a variety of reasons. “We were able to integrate to Element’s Level 1 PCI DSS compliant Express Processing Platform very quickly due to its Service Oriented Architecture which allowed us to complete the development work in the programming language of our choice. And, because Express not only meets but exceeds industry compliance standards we are able to help our customers get the most valuable payment processing available,” states Margolit.

About Element Payment Services, Inc.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Element Payment Services, Inc. provides fully integrated PCI DSS compliant payment processing solutions to merchants through partnerships with leading business management software providers. Engineered using service-oriented architecture, Element’s Express Processing Platform allows for easy integration and supports advanced technologies such as end-to-end encryption, tokenization and authentication.

Processing over $4 billion in annual transaction volume, Element’s simple and secure payment solutions allow customers to easily comply with industry security requirements such as PCI DSS and PA-DSS (PABP), significantly reducing the risk associated with handling cardholder data. Element’s innovative technology, Hosted Payments, was the first payment processing solution on the market to take software providers out of scope for PA-DSS compliance requirements. More information is available at www.elementps.com.

Element Payment Services, Inc. is a registered Merchant Service Provider with First National Bank of Omaha.

About Bluebird Auto Rental Systems (BARS)

Bluebird Auto Rental Systems (BARS) is a provider of cost-effective, turnkey computer systems to vehicle rental operations worldwide. Founded in 1982, the original auto rental division of Bluebird Systems of Carlsbad, CA was spun off into its own company in 1993 as Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, L.P.

BARS offers a wide variety of fully integrated software and hardware products, all designed to increase the efficiency and profitability of any size vehicle rental operation. BARS is committed to keeping pace with technology in order to offer the most advanced line of products possible, as well as providing top-notch customer support.

Bluebird Auto Rental Systems is a privately held company headquartered in Dover, New Jersey with regional sales and support offices located in Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Arizona, Canada, England, and the UAE. More information is available at www.barsnet.com