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(719) 355-2440Any organization that handles credit/debit card information must be PCI compliant. So, what is PCI, and why is it essential for your Colorado business?
While it’s true that the rise in cyberattacks has affected almost all industries, the financial sector is the biggest casualty. Credit card fraud tops the list of the most widespread financial crimes. It’s either bad cyber actors have honed their skills or stakeholders in this industry have let down their guards.
Whatever the case, we are staring at a possible cybersecurity crisis in the financial sector. To address this, major BankCard Groups developed Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. PCI DSS is a guide for merchants on how to process, transmit, and store cardholder information safely and securely. It is a requirement for all businesses that accept card payments.
Colorado Computer Services has been helping organizations in and around Colorado with PCI and other compliance issues for almost two decades now. Today, we address this question that we’ve been receiving almost daily — what is PCI compliance? Here’s a short video to get us started:
PCI has over 400 test procedures; it’s a vast and complex concept. For clarity, we have summarized them into six broad categories:
These PCI requirements further vary depending on your organization’s size and the volume of card payments you process.
Let’s start with small businesses relying on standalone bankcard terminals from the BankCard Group:
Organizations using Point-of-Sales Systems or third-party software must implement the following extra security measures:
PCI requirements are just your standard security measures modeled to fit specific scenarios. Being compliant, therefore, is like working on enhancing the safety of your network.
Even though PCI is not a state or federal law subject to government enforcement, non-compliance can attract very stiff penalties from the BankCard Groups. They could even ban your business from using their card payment services, temporarily or permanently.
Because PCI defines cardholder credentials as personal information, non-compliance with this standard qualifies as a breach of GDPR. Therefore, you also risk GDPR enforcement actions — fines of up to $23,294,00 or 4% of your annual turnover.
You don’t have to wait for these repercussions to catch up with you and risk denting your public image. Especially with Colorado Computer Support helping businesses achieve full PCI compliance at affordable rates. We also fix issues identified by compliance auditors.