Business critical changes to internet security are imminent – act now to avoid losing access to vital payment services

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Business critical changes to internet security are imminent – act now to avoid losing access to vital payment services.

The global internet community is set to introduce a new and more sophisticated level of internet security – and if UK businesses don't act now to accommodate the changes, they could find themselves locked out of secure websites.

That could have serious implications for UK businesses that want to use Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs) to make salary or supplier payments or to collect by Direct Debit.

From 13 June 2016, Bacs is adopting the new security, called SHA-256 SSL. At the same time as this change is being made, Bacs will withdraw support for older connection protocols to provide even more protection for the communications pipeline between the internet-based service access points, Bacstel-IP and the Payment Services Website, and the service user. After 13 June 2016, only TLS 1.1 and 1.2 will be supported.

Any business which wants to access Bacs via Bacstel-IP or the Payment Services Website to make or collect payments will need to have a web browser, operating system, and – if used – a Bacs Approved Software Solution that support these changes.

For more details on these changes and how they will affect you, go to www.bacs.co.uk/SHA-2.