UNDERSTANDING PCI DSS COMPLIANCE

Whenever there’s a transaction between you and a customer, a bunch of things happen all at once. Security is paramount to you, your customers, and your business’s reputation. There are many standards that have been put in place to protect everyone involved. In our last few blogs, we discussed interchange fees and discovered that following best practices for card transactions is key to keeping those fees down. The less risk, the smaller the fee. In today’s blog, we want to discuss Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Put simply, these are the rules of engagement that must be followed when processing payments. They ensure that everyone transmitting, accepting, storing, or processing card information is safe.

DOES PCI APPLY TO EVERYONE?

Yes. If you store, transmit, or accept payment card data, PCI applies to you. This is a good thing!

WHO MAKES PCI RULES?

Good question! Rules are created by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. The members of this council are responsible for promoting, evolving, and maintaining standards. It was founded by (and is enforced by) Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Financial Services, and JCB International.

WHY DOES COMPLIANCE WITH PCI MATTER?

A merchant’s reputation and sales can be ruined by a security breach. The issues go on from there, including the following:

The better you understand PCI DSS, the safer your business (and your customers) will be. Let us help keep your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed with our merchant payment services. Learn more today!