Why Is PCI Compliance Important for Every Merchant?

Importance of PCI Compliance – With the rapid growth in technology, there had been an emergence of so many unethical hacking tools. In the past, there had been hundreds of cases in big and small companies, where sensitive credit card details of millions of customers got stolen by fraudulent hackers and several dollars were transacted from the bank accounts.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) enforces payment safety. Moreover, it is a global card industry security standard, which is established for enhancing card meter data and transaction data security. It was established by five major international credit card issuing companies, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and JCB.

What Is PCI Compliance?

Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance refers to the technical and optional standards that businesses must follow to ensure that credit card data provided by the cardholders is secure.

The compliance is enforced by the PCI Standards that set the guidelines. Furthermore, it needs to be enforced by all the merchants and businesses irrespective of their turnover or growth and the number of credit card/debit card transactions they are dealing with. They have to follow the guidelines of PCI compliance to secure the sensitive information of their customers. This reduces the likelihood of theft of financial and personal data.

How Does PCI Compliance Work?

PCI DSS keeps itself updated with new norms to keep new threats at bay. It’s guidelines are implemented in both, the administration and technological part of the merchant business. Hence, you will have to keep your website updated regularly and make sure the payment deals are in accordance with PCI compliance. This will prevent data theft and ensure the smooth running of your business. This is the major importance of PCI Compliance.

The companies or merchants are divided on the basis of a number of credit/debit card transactions, which they have to deal with periodically. On this basis, merchants are divided into 4 different levels. Level 1 is for the merchants who process the highest number of transactions every year. Whereas, Level 4 is for the merchants with the least number of credit/debit or bank transactions.

The eCommerce merchants who are accepting, processing, storing or transmitting credit card information have to be PCI compliant. This is for the safety and security of their customers and theirs’ too. Also, by becoming PCI compliant they undergo PCI audit procedures to meet the requirements of the latest PCI guidelines.

Importance Of PCI Compliance

Now that you know the details of PCI Compliance let’s get to the Importance of PCI Compliance.

It Boosts Customer Confidence

In a survey, it was reported that two-thirds of the US adults would not return to a business if their personal data has been stolen through companies’ website. It infers that failing to meet security requirements discourages the loyal customers from returning to you. Data breaches due to companies negligence spoil its reputation, which leads to the loss of productivity and a decrease in revenue. Being PCI Compliant shows your sincerity towards the clients and customers. This shows you are taking care of their security and ensuring the safety of payment data.

Protects your Customers

When your customers visit your site and they buy your products or services through credit/debit card,they have to be sure that they are not inviting some dire consequences because of you. You will have to make sure they feel safe. You will have to invest and make their financial data security your priority.

If you fail to protect customer’s data, you are liable to lawsuits and fines. Especially, in the case when you falsely stated your business to be secure. Hopefully, now you understand the Importance of PCI Compliance.

Conclusion – Merchant Stronghold

While conducting the business, it’s the duty of a merchant to keep the data safe of both the customer and the business itself. With PCI Compliance they get this service. However, there is always some risk for which you would need an expert to guide you.

For that, you can get to Merchant Stronghold. We provide various services for a merchant in need of expert guidance to manage his business more efficiently. Contact us now using our toll-free number+1 (727) 330 – 3944 or try 24/7 available email support.