How PCI DSS Compliance Affects Your Business

There’s no escaping the reality that payment card fraud has become an unpleasant but very present phenomenon in the modern business world. Particularly in daily e-commerce business as more consumers participate in online transactions, resulting in unprecedented volumes of card data being transmitted in large numbers around the world – all of which is processed by multiple parties in a complex value chain. We’re talking banks, payment processors, as well as the merchants themselves. 

Unfortunately, while this means that brands and consumers have incredible access to each other, it also means that the opportunities for cyber criminals are vast across this chain of parties, each dealing with sensitive data. 

Businesses need to be increasingly vigilant, after all, your data security is only as good as your weakest link. It is now imperative that businesses involved in the payment card value chain invest in industry specified and approved security measures. This is where Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has come to the forefront. We’ve discussed this payment industry initiative previously, but to recap, PCI DSS was created by the payment card industry (think Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and JCB) in 2006, offering a code of conduct and a set of rules to combat payment card fraud.

PCI DSS applies to all businesses that accept payment cards, and in South Africa, this is a PASA (Payment Association of South Africa) regulation that can’t be ignored. But how does this compliance affect your business?

Let’s unpack the very real implications of how PCI DSS affects your business in terms of your payment service offering and dealing with overall end customer information. 

Becoming POPIA Compliant Becomes Easier

Last year, an important Act came into effect. The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA), which is South Africa’s data privacy act. Essentially, POPIA governs when and how organisations collect, use, store, delete, and otherwise handle personal information, making it an important step towards protecting data privacy. For the past year, businesses have undergone the arduous task of securing and analysing their massive amounts of data in order to become compliant within the 12-month deadline. 

Understandably, it has not been an easy feat to accomplish. However, given that cardholder data falls under personal information and security extends to include all this sensitive information, compliance with PCI DSS should greatly ease the process of meeting POPIA compliance. 

The main reason being that PCI DSS offers mature standards and supporting materials with extremely specific parameters, tools, measurements, and other resources. Crucially, it presents the necessary framework for developing a complete sensitive data security process in response to security-related incidents. This includes 12 high-level requirements across six goals, some of which can be used to meet POPIA compliance, such as goal number three (Maintain a vulnerability management program). 

Simply, pursuing PCI DSS compliance will bring you several steps closer to becoming POPIA compliant, and close the gap on data breaches, damaged reputations, losses, and liability.

Maintaining Your Good Reputation

Significantly, the rigorous measures of PCI DSS pertain to protecting IT networks and systems, such as firewalls, anti-virus, security testing of system, and security policies, the specifics of which we discussed in this previous article. In short, those businesses who actively invest in customer privacy and move all their personal data into a secure environment to comply with PCI DSS are well positioned to avoid security breaches. 

This intentional activity generates greater levels of consumer trust and goodwill by signaling trustworthy data handling and increased payment security to customers. Not only did does this build your business’ reputation, but in doing so, supports your sales strategy as consumers feel that much safer using your card payment service – both in-store and online.

Improved B2B Relationships

Additionally, PCI DSS compliance also improves B2B relationships. By proving that your business is not neglecting the critical components of data security, you effectively demonstrate payment brands and business partners that you are a responsible and committed retailer who prioritises payment security. Particularly if you are an e-commerce retailer who has done what is required to minimise the risk of data loss and information theft.

The Cost of Non-Compliance 

If your business were to, say, experience a data breach or some fraudulent activity and you are not compliant, there are costly consequences of which it is important to be aware. Ultimately, you will find that it is much easier, safer and less costly to make sure your business is PCI DSS compliant.

The cost of non-compliance may include one or all of the following:

• Penalties for non-compliance and additional fines.
• Any dispute resolution costs that may come from non-compliance. 
• The risk of losing the option to accept card payments.
• A card brand-mandated forensic investigation at your own expense.
• Possible lawsuits.
• Lost sales.
• Lost customer confidence.

How Your Payment Service Offering is Affected

We have seen above that the costs of non-compliance have the potential to devastate a business. Especially those that are still struggling to survive the realities of the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on our economy. These costs are perhaps the most crucial reasons why all businesses who accept card payments, whether they are online e-commerce retailers or your standard brick-and-mortar stores, are required to become PCI DSS compliant and follow their security measures. 

These security measures include:

• Secure anti-virus software on systems.
• Firewalls between the Internet and your system.
• Secure computer passwords that are changed regularly. 
• Use of the strongest encryption methods to secure cardholder and sensitive data.
• Limited access to your business network.
• Monitor and track all access to the cardholder data that you store.
• Restricted access to card terminals.

 

It is undeniable that compliance with PCI DSS is critical in the modern business world and Huge Connect is well placed to assist all businesses with their compliance needs. Not only is Huge Connect is a PCI DSS compliant company, but we are also POPIA compliant. Therefore, in offering you, as a business customer, any of our Payment Solution related services, you can be assured that you are guaranteed a secure end to end services for all your payment needs. 

Please feel free to contact the Huge Connect team for more information on PCI DSS compliance and payment solutions for your growing business.