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Saturday, 8 September 2012

Is Your Online Store Following PCI Compliance Standards?

By Kate Bailey


The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) applies to companies of any size that accept credit card payments. If your company intends to accept card payment, and store, process or transmit cardholder data, you need to host your data securely with a PCI compliant hosting provider.

One of the internet's biggest issues is security; as an e-retailer you need to ensure that your online shop is safe and secure throughout the payment process, handling sensitive information efficiently and securely. This brings me on to this week's blog topic; PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). In laymen's terms this is the framework and set of regulations compiled by the PCI Security Standards Council within which online merchants must operate in order to be compliant. It demands that merchants develop a tenacious online card payment system, incorporating processes for prevention, detection and appropriate responses to security incidents.

Why Should I Comply? As a merchant, you are probably wondering why you need to comply with the PCI Security Standards. These strict guidelines seem like a lot of effort, especially to small organizations. However Payment Card Security is becoming increasingly important and implementing precautionary measures could be potentially business saving. Some of the reasons why (as highlighted by the Compliance Council*) it would benefit to comply with the Security Standards are: Compliance with the standards means that your systems are secure, and customers can trust you with their sensitive payment card information. Trust means your customers have confidence in doing business with you.

You may be wondering what compliance actually translates to in your business. It could mean performing self-assessment questionnaires to ensure that your company is on track, or it could mean removing the complete numbers and expiration dates of credit cards from receipts. Quarterly scans could also be conducted to scout out any vulnerability in your system and pinpoint troublesome areas. Perhaps your company needs to install new credit card processing equipment that offers Triple DES PIN encryption. Full compliance is an ever-changing task for businesses that needs steady attention-it is not a one-time achievement.

By narrowing down what level and type of merchant you are, you're well on your way to becoming compliant. The PCI Compliance standards are important to you as a business and in order to keep your customer information safe and secure.




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