As you are probably aware, more and more businesses are falling victim to credit card fraud, by often unknowingly enabling criminals to steal their customer’s confidential credit card data. The following is a brief history and information to help you become familiarized with the most recent developments in the credit card industry to prevent fraud from commencing on a merchant level.
The
card associations - Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover and Diners - have formed,
what is called the PCI Security Council, whose main objective it is, to keep
cardholder data safe from any thieves trying to steal this confidential card
data. The PCI Security Council started a project: PCI DDS (Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standard) in 2004. Initially they began securing all
large financial institutions, i.e. banks and credit processors. These large
financial institutions had to implement major changes in the way they process,
transmit and store credit card data and had to complete and pass very rigorous
and costly PCI security inspections, in order to be PCI compliant. The PCI Security Council is now concentrating on the individual merchants and how they are handling their customer’s credit card data. They want to ensure that merchants treat their customer’s credit card data safely |
and
that their terminals and software are PCI compliant. To facilitate this project
they have created a validation system that categorizes the merchant into
different levels. These levels are determined by the type of credit card
terminal, software or internet website the merchant is using to process credit
card transactions. Each merchant will have to do a Self Assessment
Questionnaire (SAQ) which will be available on a website that we have created
for you at www.NMCPCI.com Having a merchant account comes with responsibility. Not following the rules is NOT an option, as this could result in large fines and could also mean the termination of your merchant account. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.org, more than 346 million records with |
sensitive information have been breached since January 2005. The amount of the
fines and fees depend upon the type of activity. A breach of data would cost a
merchant a lot more than if they were discovered to be non-compliant with no
data breach. As you have been informed in your month-end July 2010 merchant statement, there is a $69.95 registration fee associated with your Self Assessment Questionnaire which will be charged in the beginning of September 2010. We are aware that this is an additional expense for your business, but it is in your best interest to get your business PCI compliant as soon as possible to avoid any security breaches and potential fines that could jeopardize the entire livelihood of your business in the future. Please find directions and tips on how to best complete the online SAQ’s by clicking the following link to www.NMCPCI.com |
