If your business is accepting credit cards, the answer is simple: yes, your business needs to become PCI compliant.
But what exactly is PCI? How does it relate to your business? And WHY should your business become PCI compliant?
Let's break it down.
What is PCI?
By definition, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was founded in 2006 by The Card Schemes, which includes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB, to manage the ongoing evolution of PCI security standards. The Card Schemes developed the PCI standards to strengthen data security and combat data compromises. The entire PCI DSS documentation can be found here.
How does PCI relate to your business?
PCI compliance applies to ANY business regardless of size, transaction volume, or industry type. Any business that accepts credit cards is required to become PCI compliant in order to protect the cardholder's data and keep its data secure.
Why should your business become PCI compliant?
All businesses are at risk for having sensitive data, including customer card data, compromised. Although nothing will completely eliminate this risk, becoming and remaining PCI complaint reduces the chance significantly.
Failure to become PCI compliant creates a number of potential consequences, liabilities, and damages, including:
- Loss of customers and their trust
- Diminished sales
- Cost of reissuing new payment cards
- Fraud losses
- Legal costs, settlements, and judgments
- Fines and penalties from the Card Schemes
- Termination of ability to accept payment cards
- Lost jobs
- Going out of business
In fact, 60% of small companies will go out of business within six months of suffering a data breach.
Becoming PCI compliant is vitally important, and International Bancard has a team of experts on standby to assist with the process. Please call or text us at 800.827.4880 with any and all PCI questions. We appreciate your dedication to data security.
Schedule a call with one of our Certified Payment Professionals to learn how you can become PCI compliant and protect your business against data breaches.
