PCI

Published by:  E. G. “Buddy” Coley, Jr., PCI-QSA, CISM, CHS-III

My main goal in writing this PCI blog is to educate business merchants on the importance of credit card compliance.  Frequently called PCI DSS.  First, PCI stands for Payment Card Industry, DSS stands for Data Security Standard.

As a merchant, could your business survive if you could not process credit card transactions – probably not!  Whether you are an auto dealership, florist, retail outlet or Joe’s Lawnmower Shop, it is essential to be able to process customers’ credit card transactions.

Now we get to the heart of the matter – credit card compliance.  I can already see the look on your face – here we go again – yet another regulation to comply with.  Take a deep breath and read on.  Why should you be concerned about credit card compliance?  Quite simply, a merchant could face severe fines or lose the ability to process credit cards altogether if found negligent in the protection of credit card data!  Okay, now that I have your attention…..a FAQ is “Do I have to comply with Credit Card Compliance?”.  The answer is YES!  “Any entity that stores, processes and/or transmits cardholder data must comply with the PCI Data Security Standards (DSS).”  You can find the Data Security Standard at www.pcisecuritystandards.org/.  As a business merchant it is imperative that you understand the responsibilities/obligations you incur in processing credit card transactions.

My next blog will tell you about my top five PCI observations.