If you own a business that accept credit cards, or have been dealing with payment processing, you must have heard the terms PCI DSS, and PCI Compliance more than once. While it can be confusing to understand and you may wonder what it means, it’s a vital part of your business security that shouldn’t be considered a challenge.   

 

 

1. What does PCI (or PCI DSS) stands for?

 

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. It’s a set of security standards designed to ensure that ALL companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information do it uniformly in order to improve payment security throughout the industry. 

 

2. Why is PCI Compliance important for my business?

 

PCI compliance is very important for your business for the following reasons: 

• Helps you decrease the risk of security breaches: Simply locking your business door every night is not enough to keep it safe. Businesses are no longer only physical places, but virtual ones that can be accessed, stolen or breached from anywhere at any time, so it’s very important to follow those security guidelines as well to be completely safe. In fact, a recent study found that PCI Compliant businesses are 50% more likely to withstand a security breach.  
• Build up customer confidence: Your customers are going to be much more comfortable sharing their private banking information with you knowing that you take their security seriously and follow a guideline on how to handle their data. 
• Helps you avoiding expensive fees: Fees can cost you several thousands of dollars. Replacing credit cards, paying fines, paying compensations for what the customers have lost, investigation costs, audits costs, lawyer fees, security updates, and merchant processor fines can add up very quickly.  
• Lessens your liability in case of data breaches. 
• Guarantees your peace of mind: As a business owner, you will have one less thing to worry about, knowing that because you are PCI compliant, data breaches and frauds are less likely to happen.  

 

3. How do I become PCI compliant?

 

It can be difficult to become PCI compliant by yourself without extensive knowledge of the payment industry security regulations. There are several things to do from filling questionnaires (self-assessment questionnaire, etc.), attestations (attestation of compliance, etc.), making vulnerability scans, and then making the required changes to your business. The best thing to do is to contact your TCB Pay specialist and you’ll be walked through all of thses necessary steps. 

 

4. How do I remain compliant?

 

For any business that accept credit cards payments, a failure to keep up with PCI compliance can be expensive and dangerous. In the payment industry, the regulations are constantly evolving, and, in some cases, businesses are so focused on other issues that they end up with out of date security features. Here’s a couple of tips to always remain PCI compliant: 

 

• Regularly fill out the newest SAQ so you can make sure your business still meets all the requirements. 

 

5.     What if I'm not PCI compliant?

 

PCI compliance provides maximum security levels and helps ensure secure cards transactions for your business. However, many businesses are still not PCI compliant, what happens if you are one of them?  

 

• Your business could pay extra monthly fees. 
• Your payment processor may end your partnership. 
• You will pay much higher fees per processed transaction. 
• Your business will be more vulnerable to financial attacks and financial breaches. 

 

 

With TCB PAY, you can always rest easy with our industry leading security tools and services to help safeguard your business against card data theft and breaches. New and existing merchants always receive tailored advices to stay on top of the payment industry security standards. 

 

To get started, call or email us at: (866)-444-8585, info@tcbpay.com.