» What is PCI Compliance?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Credit card fraud is expensive and the costs inevitably get passed on to merchants in higher processing fees from the card issuer. Whether you accept credit card payments using a credit card terminal, online or through mobile card readers, there are mandatory security requirements that you must follow to ensure your customer’s payment card information is safe and secure and protect your business from fraud. For more detailed information on PCI Compliance, you can read PCI regulation information at www.pcisecuritystandards.org or review our PCI-Frequently Asked Questions.
» What Are the Consequences of PCI Non-Compliance?
All merchants, large or small, need to be PCI compliant. Non-compliant merchants will be charged a monthly, non-refundable PCI Non-Compliance Fee of $18.95 until compliance is successfully achieved. This doesn’t take into account the costs of a possible breach. Failure to maintain PCI Compliance could lead to:
-
Liability for the financial damage of a breach as well as costs of a forensic audit. (Best Card maintains a $50,000 breach policy for each merchant that would assist in forensic audit costs).
-
Fees and higher rate levies from Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.
-
Cancellation of credit card processing account due to excessive continuing risk.
» How Do I Become PCI Compliant through Best Card?
Best Card routinely guides our merchants through the PCI requirements appropriate to their unique processing environment. If you are a new Best Card merchant, you have 90 days from account setup to become PCI Compliant. Merchants joining Best Card will receive confirmation with their PCI login and password within 30-45 days of joining Best Card and will be automatically set up for the correct PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) for their business environment.
Existing merchants with Best Card must complete annual and/or quarterly requirements to maintain compliance. The base annual requirement is the SAQ and quarterly network scans may also be required for merchants using an internet-connected processing setup. For any questions regarding PCI or for help completing your PCI compliance requirements, please call Best Card at 877-739-3952 or email us at Compliance@BestCardTeam.com.
» Is My Account PCI Compliant?
Call Best Card -we can search your PCI DSS status any time and we are happy to do so. Did you receive a call stating that your account is non-compliant? If the caller did not identify as a Best Card employee and could not verify your merchant information, it is probably a sales call from another processor.
More questions on PCI? Click here for our detailed PCI FAQ’s
To review a sample PCI Security policy, please click here.
