What is PCI Law?
PCI “law” is misnamed since it’s not an actual law. However, compliance with standards in Payment Card Industry (PCI) transactions is required by the major credit card companies in order to be able to accept credit cards from their cardholders. Any business, big or small, that plans on accepting credit cards has to be aware of how compliance affects your security and the requirements of your payment platform.
Any business that accepts credit cards has to have security measures in place to process and transmit customers’ cardholder data safely. This is why being aware of PCI law is important, particularly when so many people are stuck at home under quarantine. Since face-to-face transactions have been reduced across virtually all industries in favor of online payments, this law is more important than ever if you want your business to accept online payments and keep your customers safe.
What is PCI law?
PCI “law”–or, more accurately, “PCI compliance”–dictates the security and protection features that businesses must maintain if they plan on accepting credit cards online as payment for their goods or services. While not technically a law, failing to comply can jeopardize your ability to accept credit cards and can subject you to legal liability, so it pays to make sure that you’re not negligent in your responsibilities.
PCI law and your network
Cardholder data that gets processed by your system has to be protected if your business model includes accepting credit cards online.
A tested firewall that keeps this data secure and makes sure your payment processing network stays private is essential to remaining compliant with safety procedures. If your merchant account processor gives you control over settings like passwords to your network and other security items, it’s necessary to make sure that you generate effective passwords.
Don’t leave your merchant account on the vendor’s default password settings, as these can be easy to hack, putting you and your customers at risk.
Know your software
When you process credit card payments, your customers’ private information may be stored on your servers. Either make sure that this data is stored properly.
This means that they have virtual security measures in place, restricted server access, and multiple layers of identification. You do not want your business to be ground zero for an outbreak of identity theft scams!
This also means encrypting your connection so that any system intruders cannot see your data or that of your customers.
The Takeaway
Your business is likely to be planning on accepting credit cards online if it doesn’t already. The COVID-19 lockdown is making this a greater priority and may even influence how payments are accepted in the future, as people get used to new modalities.
PCI “law,” while not literal law, is an important set of guidelines to follow to make sure your merchant is encrypted and tested for security to keep your cardholders’ data safe. Since you will be processing personal data, it’s important to make sure you do so securely so that you don’t have problems with identity theft now or in the future.
Contact Charge.com by visiting the website or calling (888) 924-2743 to learn your options and find a payment processor that complies with all PCI requirements.