If you are in business, PCI compliance can either make or break your game.
Yes—it’s that important.
Why?
Well, primarily because if you don’t comply with this requirement, you might end up losing money.
A lot of money.
Now, tell me frankly: Have you ever heard what PCI compliance is all about? Do you know how it affects your business, and all other businesses today?
If your answer is no—don’t worry. You’re actually not alone. There are many businesses out there that don’t really know the implications and consequences of not being PCI compliant.
However, if you have no plans of complying with this requirement—then you might need to start worrying.
Again, let me tell you: This is important to your business. So, please—please—don’t underestimate it.
So, what is PCI compliance?
In a nutshell, it’s being safe and secure when you process payments as a business.
The PCI standards were set by some of the biggest names in the finance industry to prevent credit card fraud, and all the other risks associated with data breach.
Read the news and chances are you’ll see some items there that pertain to the increasing risks relating to data breach.
In fact, did you know that Target—which is probably one of the richest companies in the world—was a victim of data breach?
Yes.
In fact, it had taken quite a big toll on the company.
Don’t believe me? That’s normal—after all, we’re talking about Target here—an empire in the business world.
Now, what if I told you that the problem Target got into involved around 40 million pieces of debit and credit card information stolen by hackers.
And what makes matters worse? No one really knows how much of that information were actually used by hackers to commit credit card fraud.
Take note: We’re talking about a very established business here—with all its security features and tools.
One more thing: According to the company, the said data breach made them lose around $162 million for that year alone.
The story of Target is one of the main reasons why PCI compliance is now required for all businesses that accept credit card payments.
The PCI, also known as the Payment Card Industry, is the body that sets the standards to protect businesses and consumers from the risks of data breach. It is headed by the PCI council, which is composed mostly of the biggest names in the financial industry, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express and others.
As the name implies, PCI compliance is actually the brainchild of the PCI. Today, businesses are required to follow this standard, or otherwise suffer the consequences.
If you fail to follow such standards, you might end up penalized with hefty fines.
Fail to be PCI compliant and you might end up having to pay for losses that you had in no way intended (except for failing to comply with PCI standards).
Note: One of the requirements of PCI compliance is to make use of EMV card readers, which is actually a tool designed to prevent and minimize credit card fraud.
If you happen to accept payments from a stolen credit card (because you didn’t have the prescribed EMV reader)—you’ll be the one made to pay for the loss of the owner of that card. And judging how difficult and financially-challenging running a business is today, that’s certainly a hard pill to swallow.
Simply put: PCI compliance is about exercising the due diligence required of you and all businesses.
Let’s face it—there are dangers out there.
And these dangers are not only affecting businesses, but they’re putting our customers at risk as well.
If you are a good business owner (and we know you are), then you should find a way to ensure that your business and your clients are aptly protected.
They deserve that…
…and you deserve that as well.
You, we, should use the necessary protection against data breach, credit card fraud and all other related risks. We owe that to our customers, and we owe that to ourselves.
Besides, we are now required to do so.
PCI compliance is a real thing—and it’s something that we should seriously consider for our business.
Look over this checklist and make sure your business is compliant. Or, if you’d rather have someone else handle all the “dirty work,” contact us.
Want to know more about PCI compliance and its details? RedFynn are experts on the matter. In fact, we provide each of our clients with a dedicated PCI consultant to do all the heavy lifting for you… because we’d rather you get to your business than mess around with stuff that’s difficult to understand.
Call (888) 510-9871 to get the important details you need.
We also handle anything related to business intelligence to both make your business run more efficiently, thus saving money, and to steadily grow your business. We’re an all-in-one fine tuning of your business.
