COMPLIANCE

Payment Card Industry (i.e. PCI) Data security standard refers to all essential requirements that companies need for ensuring a secure environment in order to process, store or transmit credit card related information. While demonstrating compliance with PCI data security standard, merchants or other service providers are required to certify and administrate a network security scan regularly as advised by PCI security standards council.

PCI security standards council was first introduced in order to govern over continuous evolution of Payment Card Industry and it was mainly focused on the improvement of payment account security while performing a transaction process. Each and every organization almost has same motive towards providing their consumers with more secure environment by keeping in mind that all merchants touch minimum security level when they process, transmit or store credit cards information.

PCI standards council is usually formed to design, embellish and guide with all possible understandings regarding the secure standards for payment account security.

Questionnaire must be completed first for performing a self-assessment program. In 2008, SAQ was modernized to relate with the work that merchants usually do. The questionnaire now reveals only four parts. Number of questions that needs to be answered depends on which part of questionnaire matches the best with company’s part of job. Companies must ensure their authenticity while responding for SAQs.

Organizations that need to appear and complete quarterly vulnerability scanning must know –it is a fundamental tool combined with vulnerability management program. Scanning helps you to single out the portions that are not configured in your website and also check the vulnerabilities of IT infrastructures that contain IP addresses.

It offers you with essential info to support patch management and also protects you against internet hacking while accessed by the users.

Any merchant, retailer or company whether small or large needs to install PCI to secure their cardholders’ data. Retailers must endorse their PCI compliance annually. Companies or merchants who possess external facing IP address require Network Security Scans. An external facing IP address gathers data, process or transmits account information associated with payment process. Fundamental operations such as sending or receiving email and employee internet access also beget company’s internet accessibility. Moreover, inconsequential wires to and from internet can lead you to unprotected paths into any service providers’ system. It can also unmask your clients’ information if not in control.

Each and every merchant comes under one of the four levels on basis of visa transaction volume over the year. These levels are explained by Visa:

1. Any merchant generally go through a process of less than 20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions annually, whereas all others process goes through almost 1 million Visa transactions in a year.
2. More than 6 million credit card transactions take place every year or any business that meets 1 million to minimize the risk to Visa system.
3. Merchants who process greater than 1 million online transactions regardless of acceptance channel.
4. Merchants processing more than 20,000 transactions annually.

To satisfy PCI requirements small business owners must successfully attain SAQ level to validate compliance. Do complete relevant attestation of compliance and submit them all to your appropriator.

If you’re thinking PCI to be an application for e-commerce companies only then you cannot be more wrong. It is applied for every company that processes, stores or transmit cardholders’ data. Any merchant who involves POS device for the business are at more risk than e-commerce solutions. Often these types of transactions evolve track data storage that is restricted under PCI. While exposing these information’s may result in huge fines.

The mechanism of self-assessment questionnaire helps to evaluate your company’s compliance level in relation to your merchant bank or Visa. If you keep on saying “yes” for each question they ask you, it usually puts you at a great risk. It can push your business towards a serious issue while your answers lack any factual basis.

Yes, while you have access for both transactions, you must protect each and every data related to your credit and debit card. There are some debit cards that have dual-purpose “signature debit”. It comes under PCI compliance and its information must be kept in control like credit cards.