Pci Compliance

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Pci Compliance-What is Pci Compliance? It stands for payment card industry and is defined as a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies who process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. The PCI Security Standards was established in 2006 by the five major issuers (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB). Prior to the establishment of this council each issuer followed their own practices.

If you are a merchant with a merchant ID and you accept credit cards as a form of payment- these compliance standards are meant for YOU. As I am sure you are aware, we have seen many incidences of data breaches publicized by the media. Currently, PCI compliance is not mandated by the federal government. Many states already require notifications to the consumer in the event of a data breach. It is very likely as time progresses that the definition of what is considered personal information will change.

What is the real cost of a data breach? The fines associated with non-compliance or breach of data can be $10,000 - $500,000 per incident. PCI compliance will cost up to an average of 2.7 million among Level 1 merchants and $267,000 among Level 2 merchants. Merchants may fall into one of four PCI compliance levels depending upon their transaction volume. The US National Archives and Records Administration reports 50% of businesses that loose their critical data for 10 days or more have to file for bankruptcy immediately. These fees can instantly become catastrophic to any company.
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