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What Does PCI stand for and how does it affect Your Business

You are a business owner who employs merchant account services and accepts credit card payments. You check your merchant bill and you fail to understand the variety of fees that are you are charged such as IRS Fee, Batch Fee, Statement Fee, PCI Compliance fee. What is PCI? You fail to understand the relevance of these fees with regards to your business. Here we have provided a detailed explanation of PCI Compliance, Why it is vital for your business to be PCI Compliant and the reasons you should not avoid it.
PCI
PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard has been made for safety and is a set of requirements. It exists to make sure that your customers and your businesses are safeguarded by making sure that all the businesses that store, process and transmit credit card information preserve a safe and secure environment.
PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was formulated in 2006 by Visa, MasterCard and all the other major credit card brands. They created PCI DSS to ensure a focus on improving payment account security in the transaction process.
Who does PCI pertain to?
Any and all organisations and merchants that transmit store and accept any cardholder data fall under the purview of PCI. If your business accepts any credit or debit card payments from a customer then the PCI DSS standards will apply to you. The requirements for PCI compliance are different for different merchants; they are based on the merchant's level and the card issuer.
Importance of PCI Compliance
Merchants leave themselves open to charges and suits when they utilise services from a non-PCI certified provider. They may be banned from being able to process transactions due to their non-compliance. Using a non PCI certified provider can ruin a business hence it is vital to use PCI Compliant service providers so that your business is not in danger.
Businesses whether small or big are all applicable to PCI Compliance. Many small owners think PCI compliance does not matter to them but they are mistaken. Small businesses are the most affected with non PCI Compliance and the ones that are most at risk. PCI Compliance is the best way to avoid any major problems in the business and non-compliance can cause a lot of harm and put all kinds of business owners at risk.
PCI Compliance Fees
The fees charged for PCI compliance can be monthly or annual. When you are charged a PCI compliance fee that means you are non-compliant to PCI standards. Your processor may be charging you monthly because your business is not PCI compliant and hence you are paying the fees for failing PCI DSS standards. Once your business becomes compliant, you will no longer be charged PCI Compliance fees.  If PCI Compliance fees show up in your statement, it is advisable to talk to your processor for guidance to get PCI Compliant.
We hope you understand PCI Compliance now and how it can affect your business.