Let’s talk about Payment Card Industry compliance, otherwise known as PCI. All merchants are required to follow protocols protecting the integrity of their customers’ credit card numbers and related security information for credit card holder fraud protection. Those requirements are monitored by PCI compliance companies who exist to monitor merchants and their payment transactions for the purpose of preventing fraud, which is rampant.
All payment processor companies require that their merchants follow proper PCI compliance. They also require merchants to complete a survey of their internal PCI practices annually, not just when they sign up for payment processing, but every year thereafter. The PCI companies collect the survey information and also scan all terminals and POS systems quarterly to check for security viruses. Yes, there is a fee that all merchants pay to cover the costs of PCI compliance. It is listed on your monthly merchant statement.
The fee is either monthly or annually, usually around $10 monthly or $120 annually. Some credit card processing companies charge more. There is also an extra fee if you forget or choose not to do the scans and annual survey. That fee ranges from $29.95/month up to $129.95 per month from some merchant services processors. PCI is of serious concern to processors but is also a money maker.
Here are some examples of PCI regulations:
- An obvious example is not to store customers’ credit card information on pieces of paper in file cabinets. They could be stolen and misused.
- Another example is to have a firewall on your internet network, on which you are taking payments
- A third example is to store credit cards for recurring billing in a secure portal supplied by your payment processor.
- A fourth example is to not swipe credit cards in your terminal anymore. Dipping and tapping to pay are more secure because the data is encrypted before it is sent through cyberspace to the payment processor.
- There are more regulations regarding mobile devices and online processing.
The fees merchants pay are listed on their monthly merchant statement, but are not always obvious. Look over your merchant statement monthly to be familiar with it and also to become aware if any fees have been added or increased. Processors are required to notify merchants of any increases or additions in fees on the merchant statement. They are not required to put it in big print so it is easy to find.
Give us a call at Electronic Money Company , 505-296-2847 , if you have questions regarding PCI.
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Other topics you might be interested in: Avoid Costly Mistakes: Download our free report, 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Credit Card Processor
