Montrose Travel becomes latest Travel Agency to become Visa CISP Compliant
MONTROSE, California – October 6, 2008 – Montrose Travel, a $110 million full-service travel agency headquartered in Los Angeles has received the honor by Visa U.S.A to secure a listing on its Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) list of compliant service providers.
CISP is Visa U.S.A.’s version of the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) Data Security Standard. PCI is a rigid set of security standards that have been agreed to by the payment card industry as a minimum standard that people who accept credit cards must handle. The standard examines multiple aspects of a company’s operations, including network security, data integrity standard, physical access controls and process and policy review.
By insuring the PCI/CISP standards are met, people who use compliant service providers and merchants can trust that the service provider is taking the necessary and appropriate steps to protect them against credit card misuse and identity theft. While it is expected that over time all companies who handle and process credit cards must become PCI compliant, Montrose Travel was an early adopter of the security standards imposed by PCI.
Armed with an industry-leading travel fulfillment redemption website offering financial institutions the choice of six unique rewards platforms each built on a sophisticated rules engine allowing program providers the flexibility to determine restrictions around redemptions, Montrose Travel’s Loyalty / Rewards Division is set to break historical sales and transaction records heading into 2009.
"Montrose Travel is proud to be listed on Visa U.S.A.’s website as one of the few travel companies that have achieved this accomplishment. Visa’s standards are rigorous and for good reason. While this project has taken over a year to complete and touched virtually every internal and external aspect of our business, the investment in both time and money has been well worth it. All Montrose Travel customers now have the peace of mind to know their credit card data is safe and secure", says Joe McClure, President of Montrose Travel.
To handle the complex task of learning the PCI/CISP standards and applying them to day-to-day operations, Montrose Travel hired Donald Gardiner, a 20-year I.T. professional and law school student.
ABOUT MONTROSE TRAVEL
Celebrating 50 years in business, Montrose Travel, a family owned Travel Management Company, has grown from 14 employees in 1990 to more than 150 today and is now firmly established as one of the top travel management company’s in the United States. Financially strong since 1956 and with eight operating divisions - Commercial, Vacation, Honeymoon, Groups/Meetings/Incentives, Air/Car/Hotel, Loyalty, Entertainment and Independent Contractors – Montrose Travel "will be here tomorrow to back up our promises of today!". Montrose Travel can be reached at 1-800-MONTROSE (666-8767) or by visiting www.montrosetravel.com. | 
