As card transactions are the most common types of transaction or any type of online and virtual payments, maintaining security while transacting is of utmost importance. All card transactions, whether debit or credit, are ruled by PCI DSS standards.
PCI stands for Payments, Cards Industry, and payment gateway providers using a card for money transfer, during a financial transaction has to work in compliance with these standards. DSS stands for Data Security Standards.
PCI DSS offers various protections for businesses for their financial transaction through cards. Business owners can relax, as the stringent regulations ensure that offending companies get penalized for noncompliance discrepancies.
The PCI DSS covers factors such as:
• Data handling by the computer software for the business
• Protection again data theft by employees of the organization
• Separate storage for program execution and data
• Protection from internet intrusions on sensitive data for financial transactions
• Human access tracking
• Hard drive disposal in the correct manner
• Production systems should not be changed by software developers, and a close watch should be kept for any developer looking to do the same.
While these are the most noticeable factors that are directly impacted by these standards, there are indeed many more aspects coming together for the whole picture. The methods and processes in place to validate the organizations’ compliance varies from the type of industry to the size of the company in question.
PCI levels
Based on the volume of transactions for the organization, merchants can choose corresponding packages that offer a limited number of transactions for various other benefits, often for lower charges per transaction for payment gateway providers.
Level 1
• More than 2,500,000 for American Express transactions per annum
• More than 6,000,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per annum
Level 2
• 1,000,000 to 6,000,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per annum
• 50,000 and 2,500,000 American Express transactions per annum
Level 3
• 20,000 to 1,000,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per annum
• 50,000 American Express transactions per annum
Level 4
• Fewer than 20,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per annum
These levels are regulated with the volume of the business conducted by the organization. Depending on the level the business stands at, like level one and two, the business will need an auditor to verify the degree of compliance with the standards for the company.
Small and medium businesses usually rely on third-party companies to handle all their PCI DSS security protocol compliance. On the other hand, level three and four category companies have self-assessment sheets that are handed out by the company to see how far the compliance is for the organization in question.
Exploring at length the various compliance checks for small, medium and large companies is a time-consuming process; payment gateway providers greatly benefit from the set guidelines, which gives a semblance of control over the new age technological processes, while beneficial, but confusing. The standards allow merchants to conduct their business with peace of mind, due to the extra security that the compliance assures.
