In response to President Obama'sannouncement Friday about a new initiative called “Buy Secure,”designed to motivate companies to implement safer payment methods,the National Retail Federation said it will work closely withmerchants to strengthen data security.

Matthew Shay, president/CEO of NRF, was present for the WhiteHouse announcement at a CFPB meeting Friday, the NRF said.

“We applaud the administration for taking proactive and positivesteps by adopting PIN and chip technology for government-issueddebit and credit cards, among other things, Shay said in a preparedstatement.

“As the world's largest retail trade association, NRF continuesto work with our members and other stakeholders on practical andcomprehensive solutions that are less about process and more aboutprogress toward how we collaboratively prevent and combat thiscriminal activity,” he added.

From insisting on PIN and chip cards to facilitating greaterinformation sharing among retailers and others sectors, the NRFsaid it is committed to finding the right answers with the latesttechnologies to stop cyber thieves, Shay said.

“This is not an issue about large retail versus small, or globalfinancial institutions versus community banks and credit unions, orthe federal government versus municipalities,” he explained. “Weall stand together in seeking solutions to prevent criminals fromaccessing personal financial data regarding our customers,investors and citizens through preventable data breaches.”

Retail is the nation's largest private sector employer,supporting one in four U.S. jobs or 42 million working Americansand contributes $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, NRF said.