Do merchants need to be PCI compliant?

Do merchants need to be PCI compliant?

In general, PCI compliance is required by credit card companies to make online transactions secure and protect them against identity theft. Any merchant that wants to process, store or transmit credit card data is required to be PCI compliant, according to the PCI Compliance Security Standard Council.

Does PCI DSS apply to merchants?

The PCI DSS applies to any merchant or service provider that handles, processes, stores or transmits credit card data. For merchants, the PCI Security Standards Council has provided on-your-honor compliance validation tools in the form of Self Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ’s). There are four SAQ’s: A, B, C and D.

What is merchant PCI compliance?

PCI compliance is a set of rules and regulations that apply to any business, of any size, that accepts credit card data. For a business to be compliant requires a specific set of safety protocols designed to protect both the business and its customers from fraudulent activity.

What is a PCI Level 4 merchant?

Level 4 applies to merchants that process fewer than 20,000 Visa or Mastercard e-commerce transactions per year or up to 1 million total Visa or Mastercard credit card transactions and that have not suffered a data breach or attack that compromised card or cardholder data.

What if I fail PCI compliance?

Failure to comply with PCI DSS means you will face huge financial penalties, damage to your company’s reputation, a loss of customer trust which in turn will lead to a drop in sales and potentially see your company cease trading.

What happens if you violate PCI compliance?

Fines: Violation of PCI compliance requirements can result in $5,000 – $10,000 in monthly fines from credit card companies. Also, in the event of a data breach fraudulent purchases on your customers’ cards may result in bank reversal charges for which you’d be responsible.