CINCINNATI, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Third Processing Solutions, a premier full-service payment solutions provider, has designed a solution that encrypts critical payment and cardholder data at the front end of the payments process and maintains the security of that data through all of the processor systems. Fifth Third Processing Solutions' data security solution will provide a single platform for both end-to-end encryption and tokenization to help merchants remove sensitive card data from authorization systems as well as back office business applications.

Long known as a payments advocate for the merchant community, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is working with Voltage Security, Inc., a global leader in security solutions, to offer several new customer solutions focused on the protection of sensitive cardholder information. Fifth Third Processing Solutions selected Voltage for the superior flexibility of the product offering. This includes their effective and simplified key management structure, their advanced encryption methodology, and their format-preserving encryption technology which reduces the amount of development needed to manage the encrypted data values.

"Serving both the large and small merchant community, it is critical that we provide a solution that protects sensitive data, is cost effective to install and operate, and reduces the PCI scope and cost for our valued customers," commented Donald Boeding, President, Merchant Services at Fifth Third Processing Solutions. He continued, "We also needed a solution that not only worked in a single terminal environment but could handle complex multi-lane key management. The Voltage solution accomplishes all of these objectives. Additionally, by utilizing Voltage's innovative format-preserving encryption technology, we are able to minimize integration work at the merchant's Point-of-Sale system."

"Partnering with Voltage is another key step in the continuous execution of our Data Protection strategy because their technology easily integrates on so many platforms," added Bob Bartlett, Chief Information Officer at Fifth Third Processing Solutions. "We also believe that due to the unique way in which Voltage encryption keys are created and managed, merchants will not experience significant increased ongoing operational support costs. This is something that is often overlooked when merchants are assessing security options."

Fifth Third Processing Solutions expects to begin deploying end-to-end encryption and tokenization solutions with both complex national merchants as well as small regional merchants. As the market for payment security solutions evolves, Fifth Third Processing Solutions will expand their suite of security solutions to meet the growing demand.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC delivers innovative payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions around the world. A pioneer in card payment acceptance in the early 1970s, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a joint venture with Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB)

As a premier full service payment solutions provider, the Company provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private label programs processing over 33.3 billion ATM and point of sale transactions and over $315.5 billion in debit and credit card sales volume annually. The Company supports over 180,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 11 countries. According to the Nilson Report (March 2009), the Company is the fourth largest U.S. merchant purchase transaction acquirer. Learn more at www.FTPSLLC.com.