According the Federal Trade Commission, credit card fraud (25%) was the most common form of reported identity theft in 2006. More than $48 billion was lost by financial institutions and businesses in that year due to identity theft, and $5 billion lost by individuals.

By working with Demandware, retailers are assured that their eCommerce platform provider enables their businesses to adhere with PCI standards for data security and reliability and avoid jeopardizing important customer data and hefty fines. The Payment Security Standards Council has mandated that a company processing, storing, or transmitting credit card numbers must be PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) compliant or risk losing the ability to process credit card payments through the major credit card companies. Organisations that fail to comply risk not being allowed to handle cardholder data and fines up to $500,000 if the data is lost or stolen.

"Now more than ever, it's critical that companies take every measure possible to protect the security and integrity of their customer data", noted senior security analyst and certified information system security professional (CISSP) Gary Glover at Demandware's security partner Security Metrics. "By partnering with Demandware, customers can have confidence that their ecommerce businesses can be compliant with the highest standards of integrity and security."

Demandware has met the PCI DSS version 1.1 set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

The PCI DSS version 1.1 is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. Demandware has proven it can meet the rigorous PCI Compliance standard to help organizations proactively protect customer account data.

"Adhering to PCI standards is of the utmost importance for all retailers", stated Wayne Whitcomb, vice president of engineering and technology at Demandware. "Demandware recognizes this, and gives our customers the peace of mind of a secure on-line platform."