PCI Compliance for Merchants
 Making the World a Safer Place to Shop!

The Payment Card Industry's goal in establishing the compliance standards is to enhance the security of each environment where cards are used for commerce.  In fact, many of the requirements are practices and procedures that every organization should use to operate efficiently and protect their data, regardless of whether they accept credit/debit cards.

Why is it critical that every merchant be compliant?

1. Penalties - Merchants risk incurring fees and penalties for non-compliance.  Fees vary by brand - see the compliance sites of Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

2. Higher Rates - Merchants can lose discounts and or become ineligible for promotional interchange rates.

3. Termination - Merchants can actually have their card acceptance privileges terminated entirely from every major credit card brand.

4. Protection - In the event a Merchant's data is compromised in some fashion, there is some protection from fees - specifically from Visa - as long as they can prove they were compliant at the time the breach occurred.

Shopper Safe is committed to helping Merchants protect their data and meet the PCI standards.  However, in many ways we are at the same time protecting the Merchant's ability to operate as a majority of their business is transacted through payment cards. 

Finally, even though the specific requirements vary based on merchant size, every merchant must be PCI compliant.  This includes retailers, restaurants, ecommerce sites, mail order companies, etc.  Some Merchants - especially those in healthcare - assume that HIPAA compliance is equal to PCI.  While they have some shared goals in terms of protecting consumer (patient) information, the requirements are very different. Over the last year many Merchant banks (and some ISO's) are charging extra fees for non-compliance.

Contact us today to ensure you are compliant.