PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliance has been a cause of both great concern and great confusion to retailers. There has been much fear, uncertainty and doubt on the part of retailers about the best way to secure their customer credit card information from hackers, coupled with frustration and resistance given what seems like an insurmountable task that will cost retailers money. They ask, will there be an ROI? What am I getting for the time, effort and money I am putting into PCI compliance?
These are all very legitimate concerns, especially in tough economic times where every dollar counts. So what is the best course of action? Let me start off by saying that PCI Compliance is very real, here to stay, and serves a very important purpose, to protect your customer's credit card data. And protecting data, especially customer data, is a “best practice” that should be taken seriously regardless of any mandates by PCI.
The problem is, with so many companies vying for your PCI Compliance dollars, merchants can feel that the entire “PCI Compliance machine” is just a big money grab. There is so much pressure being put on retailers to “get compliant”, which also means “spend money”, that it is easy for a merchant to become jaded and lose sight of the seminal point of PCI. It's about protecting your business from a data-breach that can compromise your client's credit card data. The reality is that it can potentially devastate your business, as well as cost you a fortune in fines and fees.
So let me give it to you straight, PCI Data Standards are not optional. Merchants discovered to be out of compliance can be hit with serious fines: as much as $5,000-$100,000 per month,at the sole discretion of the card brands. Depending on the size and overall health of your small business, being handed one of these fines could mean a major problem or total bankruptcy. Beyond the fines, your business reputation is at stake when you are responsible for securing client data.
Now that you hopefully see that PCI is real and important, you need to have a plan of action for PCI Compliance. Allow me to review some facts about PCI, and walk you through some steps to take:
The full name of the organization that created the security standards is “The PCI Security Standards Council,” or PCI-SSC, which is an organization founded by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard, and Visa.
The PCI - SSC (Security Standards Council), mandated the PCI-DSS (Data Security Standard) which is comprised of 12 steps required for retailers to properly secure their credit card data.
You can click on the link below to our website to see the 12 steps of PCI-DSS Compliance. PCI-DSS mandates that any merchant who takes payments must be PCI-DSS compliant and it is the merchant's responsibility to ensure that compliance. These 12 steps are best practices for any organization to secure their data.
http://www.retailmerchantservices.com/service-pci.html
In the PCI-DSS world, retailers are divided into 4 Levels to determine compliance requirements. So the first step is to determine what Level your business falls into.
Level 1: More than 6,000,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per year.
Level 2: 1,000,000 to 6,000,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per year.
Level 3: Merchants processing 20,000 to 1 million Visa e-commerce transactions annually.
Level 4: Merchants processing less than 20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions annually and all other merchants processing up to 1 million Visa transactions annually.
Most of the independent specialty retailers we serve fall into the Level 4 grouping.
Now that you've determined your Level under PCI (most likely Level 4), what is your next move?
If you're Level 1 or 2, then you need to hire an auditor, called a QSA or “Qualified Security Assessor” to verify your compliance with the PCI-DSS Standard.
The PCI Security Council has developed a set of Self-Assessment Questionnaires that can be used by Level 3 and Level 4 merchants. These questionnaires are referred to as “SAQs”. They help you figure out if you're compliant with the PCI-DSS standards.
If you're Level 3 or 4, then you can do your own Self-Assessment of compliance. That is done by completing a SAQ, or “Self Assessment Questionnaire”. You don't need to have an internal audit, you just have to print out the document and have it completed.
There are 4 different SAQ forms to use depending on the following criteria.
SAQ A: Card-not-present (e-commerce or MOTO) merchants, all cardholder data functions are outsourced. This would never apply to face-to-face merchants
SAQ B: Stand-alone or dial-up terminal merchants with no electronic cardholder data storage.
SAQ C: Merchants with payment application systems (POS or credit card processing software) connected to the Internet with no electronic cardholder data storage.
SAQ D: All other merchants not covered above, and service providers.
You can download the SAQ forms directly at:
http://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/documents.php?category=saqs
What is Validation?
In addition to PCI Compliance, there are also “PCI Validation” requirements (depending on what “Level” retailer you are, discussed above) which means you need to “Prove” you are compliant by submitting “Validation Certificates, SAQs and Network Scans” to the PCI Security Council or your payment processor.
Your validation requirements, deadlines and penalties for non-compliance will vary depending on your PCI Level, and what your payment processor may require of you.
“Validating” PCI Compliance is a process that is “required” for Levels 1, 2 and 3 retailers but not set in stone for Level 4 retailers. The reason for the Level 4 ambiguity is there is much debate on who will “own” the process to make sure Level 4 retailers are PCI Compliant.
Many payment processors are now taking on that role and forcing their merchants to Validate and Document Compliance or face monthly penalties, and there are others that choose to educate the merchants and direct them on the best course of action. At this time, it is 100% up to the credit card processor for Level 4 merchants whether they need to validate their compliance.
The Bottom Line:
So you will either be “self policing” your PCI Compliance and filing away a SAQ each year, or you may be asked by your processor to “Validate” your compliance where you will be required to submit a completed SAQ as well as perform “Quarterly Scans” on your network. Quarterly network scans are also required for “Validation” and apply to merchants whose card processing environments are directly or indirectly connected to the Internet. These scans must be performed by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV), as specified by the PCI Security Standards Council.
All retailers who take credit cards need to complete the SAQ annually, and if they have difficulty can work with their POS or IT support to help them, as well as the many approved organizations that specialize in helping retailers complete the SAQ and run scans.
You need to take the PCI-DSS seriously and be proactive and develop best practices to secure your data and networks. Get deeply acquainted with the SAQ, and get it completed. If you want to be more proactive and get guidance, I recommend working with an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) and have them help you complete your SAQ and perform Quarterly Scans to achieve validation.
PCI-DSS is a collaborative effort between parties. Your processor, your POS software company, your IT department and management need to work together to make sure you are complying with the 12 Steps of PCI-DSS.
If you would like more information about The Bart Group, contact One Step Retail Solutions at 800-266-1328.
