What is PCI compliance and why does it matter?

Accepting card payments can be a risky business, and fraudsters are always looking for ways to steal customer data. You may not know it, but it’s your responsibility to safeguard your customers’ financial information by becoming ‘PCI compliant’. If a data breach does happen, your customers can lose out and you could be fined up to £90 for every card that’s been compromised.

This article includes information about:

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is the global standard for handling card data. All businesses accepting card payments are required to follow these standards to become ‘PCI compliant’.

Why is PCI compliance important?

When you accept a card payment, you and your customer are sharing sensitive financial information. By becoming PCI compliant, you can formally demonstrate that you’re handling and managing customer data as securely as possible. This means that in the event of a card security breach, you’ll prove you’re doing everything you can to prevent fraudulent use of information and ultimately reduce your risk of being fined.

All new Paymentsense customers have two months to become PCI compliant. After this time, you’ll be charged a monthly non-compliance fee of £35 or €25 plus VAT to offset our own risk of being fined in the event of a breach.

Become PCI Compliant

PCI compliance costs

  • PCI management fee: £4.95 or €4.95 per month, charged quarterly on your Paymentsense bill. This is the cost for us to manage our PCI compliance program and security systems that protect your business and customers.
  • PCI phone validation: £2.50 or €3.12 per month, optional and billed once per year by Paymentsense. This is an optional service where we can help you complete the PCI assessment over the phone in as little as 10 minutes.
  • PCI non-compliance charge: £35 or €25 per month, charged every non-compliant month are the grace period. This is the charge we apply if you don't become PCI compliant within two months of joining us. 

Industry links 

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