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What is PCI ?

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The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store ortransmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID). The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was launched on September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards with focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process.

What is PCI and why is it important?

PCI Logo

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store ortransmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID). The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was launched on September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards with focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process.

The PCI DSS is administered and managed by the PCI SSC (www.pcisecuritystandards.org), an independent body that was created by the major payment card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.). It is important to note, the payment brands and acquirers are responsible for enforcing compliance, not the PCI council. 

 

Why should you as a merchant comply with the PCI Security Standards?

 

At first glance, especially if you are a smaller organization, it may seem like a lot of effort, and confusing to boot. But not only is compliance becoming increasingly important, it may not be the headache you expected.

 

Compliance with data security standards can bring major benefits to businesses of all sizes, while failure to comply can have serious and long-term negative consequences. Here are some reasons why:

 

  • Compliance with the PCI DSS means that your systems are secure, and customers can trust you with their sensitive payment card information:

 

 

 

 

  • Compliance is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. It helps prevent security breaches and theft of payment card data, not just today, but in the future:

As data compromise  becomes more spohisticated it becomes more difficult for an individual merchant to stay shead of the threats. The

PCI Security Standards Council is constantly working to monitor threats and improve the industry's means of dealing with them through

enhancements to PCI Security  Standards and by the training of security professionals

 

  • Compliance has indirect benefits as well:

 

 

 

 

 

  • But if you are not compliant, it could be disastrous:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ve worked hard to build your business – make sure you secure your success by securing your customers’ payment card data. Your customers depend on you to keep their information safe – repay their trust with compliance to the PCI Security Standards.

 

 

Trust means your customers have confidence in doing business with youConfident customers are more likely to be repeat customers, and to recommend you to others Compliance improves your reputation with acquirers and payment brands -- the partners you need in order to do business.

Through your efforts to comply with PCI Security Standards, you’ll likely be better prepared to comply with other regulations as they come along, such as HIPAA, SOX, etc. You’ll have a basis for a corporate security strategy and you will likely identify ways to improve the efficiency of your IT infrastructure.

Compromised data negatively affects consumers, merchants, and financial institutions. Just one incident can severely damage your reputation and your ability to conduct business effectively, far into the future. Account data breaches can lead to catastrophic loss of sales, relationships and standing in your community, and depressed share price if yours is a public company

 

Possible negative consequences also include:

Lawsuits

Insurance claims

Cancelled accounts

Payment card issuer fines

Government fines

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All EBS payment acceptance solutions are PCI-DSS compliant, according to the most recent standards.

 

Call 888-590-8099 to get started today!

Retailers are required to complete an application and agree to terms and conditions at the time of enrollment which includes transaction processing fees.

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