Payment processing and security vendors Equinox Payments, Voltage Security and Merchant Link have teamed up to create cloud-based payment solution to protect sensitive point-of-sale payment data.

The integration of these proven solutions was a direct response to Columbia Sportswear Company's desire to reduce its PCI scope for its retail locations by minimizing or eliminating the need to store any payment data on its network environment, while allowing scalability to support future growth.

Thus, Equinox's payment terminals have been combined with Voltage SecureData Payments solutions and Merchant Link's TransactionVault tokenization and Payment Gateway.

Data is captured using Equinox Payments' next generation L5300 payment system, which is equipped with an integrated contactless reader and features Equinox's remote key injection system that enables a retailer to initiate on-site, in-store terminal key injection for debit card transactions.

For credit card transactions, Voltage Security's encryption technology featuring key management offers protection of payment data from swipe to processing and works alongside PIN debit encryption without any impact.

Merchant Link's card-based tokenization technology enhances security and marketing analytics, while its gateway service ensures settlement.