The PCI-DSS is a security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card including Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, and JCB. It is designed to ensure that ALL companies that process credit card information maintain a secure environment.
PCI applies to organization or merchant, that has a Merchant ID (MID), regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts credit card.
Merchants will fall into one of the four merchant levels based on Visa transaction volume over a 12-month period.
| Merchant Level |
Description |
| 1 |
Any merchant — regardless of acceptance channel — processing over 6M Visa transactions per year. Any merchant that Visa, at its sole discretion, determines should meet the Level 1 merchant requirements to minimize risk to the Visa system. |
| 2 |
Any merchant — regardless of acceptance channel — processing 1M to 6M Visa transactions per year. |
| 3 |
Any merchant processing 20,000 to 1M Visa e-commerce transactions per year. |
| 4 |
Any merchant processing fewer than 20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions per year, and all other merchants — regardless of acceptance channel — processing up to 1M Visa transactions per year. |
Does is each location required to validate PCI Compliance for multiple business locations?
If a business locations process under the same Tax ID, then you are only required to validate once annually for all locations.
Penalties for non-compliance
The payment brands may fine an acquiring bank $5,000 to $100,000 per month for PCI compliance violations. The banks will pass this fine along until it eventually hits the merchant. The bank will also terminate your relationship or increase transaction fees.
PCI Compliance Manager
To help you achieve and report compliance, we have Trustwave PCI Compliance Manager. It’s an online portal that enables you to understand requirements that apply to your business, and guides you through your self-assessment, step by step.
If you have any questions regarding your PCI Compliance please call our office at 888-996-2273. We would be more than happy to help.