PCI Compliance

We can't emphasize the urgency of this matter strongly enough… not being PCI compliant is an issue that could be critical to the ongoing existence of your business. You can confirm the importance of this issue by going to the following Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover web page links below.

	Visa: http://www.visa.com/cisp
	MasterCard: https://sdp.mastercardintl.com/index.shtml
	American Express: http://www.americanexpress.com/merchant
	Discover: http://www.discovernetwork.com/fraudsecurity/disc.html

Merchants
Please click the button below to begin PCI DSS validation through PCI Toolkit.

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The PCI DSS version 1.2, is a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, that was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

What are the deadlines for complying with PCI DSS?
Compliance is mandated by the payment card brands and not by the PCI Security Standards Council. However, for most merchants, the deadlines for validating compliance with the PCI DSS have already passed. You should check with your acquirer and/or merchant bank to check if any specific deadlines apply to you, based on merchant transaction volume (level) as determined by the card payment brands. All entities that transmit, process or store payment card data must be compliant with PCI DSS.

I'm a small merchant who has limited payment card transaction volume. Do I need to be compliant with PCI DSS? If so, what is the deadline?
All merchants, whether small or large, need to be PCI compliant. The payment brands have collectively adopted PCI DSS as the requirement for organizations that process, store or transmit payment cardholder data. PCI SSC is responsible for managing the security standards while each individual payment brand is responsible for managing and enforcing compliance to these standards. For questions regarding compliance validation requirements and deadlines as well as compliance reporting requirements, we recommend that you contact your acquirer. For more information regarding the PCI security standards and supporting documentation, including the "Navigating the PCI DSS" as well as targeted Self Assessment Questionnaires to assist small and medium merchants, please visit the PCI SSC website at: www.pcisecuritystandards.org.

Is the Self-Assessment Questionnaire all I need to do to validate compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)?
In accordance with payment brands' compliance programs, those merchants and service providers who are permitted by the payment brands to self-evaluate their compliance with the PCI DSS may need to complete the following steps: 1. Complete the Self-Assessment Questionnaire according to the instructions in the Self- Assessment Questionnaire Instructions and Guidelines. 2. Complete a clean vulnerability scan with a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV), and obtain evidence of a passing scan from the ASV. 3. Complete the relevant Attestation of Compliance in its entirety (located in the SAQ). 4. Submit the SAQ, evidence of a passing scan, and the Attestation of Compliance, along with any other requested documentation, to your acquirer.