Hero is pleased to announce the launch of Hero Secure Payments, a PCI DSS compliant customer payment solution for travel agents and resellers of tours, activities and attractions.

Hero Secure Payments enables booking agents in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and the UK to process customer payments by Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard and Amex using PCI DSS compliant hardware, powered by Square.

Customer-facing POS stands and contactless card readers make payments faster and more secure by eliminating the requirement for agents to physically handle credit cards. Customers simply pay using their preferred payment method – mobile wallet, tap-and-go and chip cards.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance is adherence to the set of policies and procedures developed to protect credit, debit and cash card transactions and prevent the misuse of cardholders’ personal information.

Hero co-founder, Dan Lucas comments “Historically, it was common for booking agents to operate without their own merchant facility. Customer credit card details were provided to suppliers over the phone or manually entered into the supplier’s online reservation system. As PCI policies have changed over time this model has been deemed as non-compliant, putting agents, suppliers and their customers at risk. Hero Secure Payments has been developed to provide agents with a secure alternative.”

Square is a merchant services aggregator and mobile payment company with hardware payments products, including Square Contactless and Chip Reader and Square Stand, pictured above.

In addition to advanced security and an enhanced customer experience, Hero Secure Payments provides booking agents and suppliers with a simplified accounts and payment process.

Hero remits funds to agents and suppliers with an automated weekly payment process. Suppliers receive payment of the net amount via EFT, without the need to issue invoices, chase payments and issue commission payments to agents. Agents can choose to receive commission payments into a single company bank account, or automatically divided and paid to individual sales staff.