05/18/2021

PCI Compliance: Five Visible Benefits

Insights from Infintech

In today’s world, card data is a favorite target for cybercriminals because the attacks have typically been easy to carry out and the rewards can be high. Massive data breaches in companies like Facebook and Target have proven that important financial data needs to be protected.

That is one of the reasons that the largest payment card providers – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and JCB – created the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in 2014. The PCI DSS is a set of twelve requirements that outlines the security measures merchants must take when processing card payments. These requirements range from the way their networks are built to the way they store sensitive cardholder data. By implementing the PCI DSS and requiring any merchant who accepts payment cards to abide by the rules, the PCI DSS took a major proactive step to protecting cardholders and ensuring businesses take security seriously.

What Happens if Merchants Do Not Comply?

For merchants that fail to achieve PCI compliance, the card brands can choose to fine the merchant’s acquiring bank anywhere between $5,000 – $100,000 per month. The acquiring banks then usually pass these fines onto the merchants. For repeated violations, the card brands may revoke the merchant’s privileges to accept payments using their cards entirely.

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from OSAE Member Infintech.