PCI Compliance: If you take credit cards, you must be PCI Compliant.
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) has developed standards for all merchants that accept credit cards. They refer to this as the PCI DSS, or PCI Data Security Standard. If you accept credit cards, you must comply with the PCI DSS. The PCI Security Standards Council, which consists of the payment cards such as Visa, Master Card, American Express, etc., have developed these standards in order to protect themselves, their customers, and the merchants who accept credit cards. Penalties for a non-compliance breach are administered by each Payment Card and can result in fines up to $500,000.
The PCI DSS consists of 12 sections, from IT infrastructure to general business policy and procedure. Each section has numerous sub-sections. All 12 sections must comply with PCI DSS in order for the merchant to be PCI Compliant. Here is a brief overview of the 12 sections.
Depending on the size of your company, you may be required to either submit a Report on Compliance (ROC), which entails hiring a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). Smaller companies, those who have under 1,000,000 transactions per year, can complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). PC Medics of Alabama deals exclusively with companies that qualify for the SAQ, and we will complete your SAQ after making you PCI compliant.
So, in brief, if you accept credit cards, you must be PCI Compliant. We’re here to help you get there, and to help you maintain your compliance by checking your SAQ every quarter. Unfortunately, due to constant changes in equipment, personnel, and infrastructure, just because you are compliant today, doesn’t mean you will be tomorrow. We make sure you stay there.
For a more detailed and thorough explanation of what PCI Compliance is all about, take some time to read “Why Comply with PCI Security Standards?”
Call us today for your free consultation. We have extensive experience with businesses that accept credit cards in making them PCI Compliant. Our security assessment engineers will come on-site, examine your existing IT and business setup, and give you an estimate on what it will take to make you, and keep you, PCI Compliant.
PC Medics of Alabama is based in Hoover, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham, and we serve Alabama, Georgia, the Florida Panhandle region, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Our focus is on businesses that have less than 15 computers per site, and we specialize in restaurants and businesses with POS equipment. Our clients include major franchise and corporate-owned restaurants, manufacturers, tourism facilities, and healthcare providers.
In addition to making your business PCI Compliant, PC Medics of Alabama has engineers that are Microsoft and CompTIA Certified, and we can also be your main point-of-contact for computer and network maintenance, with around-the-clock support. See what other services PC Medics of Alabama has to help your business by clicking here.
PC Medics of Alabama • PO Box 26762 • Birmingham, Alabama 35260 • 205.201.0389 Voice • 928-244-4879 Fax • pcmdxal@gmail.com • www.pcmdx.net