PCI Compliance Survey Results

I've been harping a lot over the last year about planning for the upcoming EMV requirement which will affect everyone who takes credit and debit cards.  Based on a recent survey of retailers by ControlScan, it appears that many folks are still ignoring PCI compliance.  The survey results are surprising to me as PCI has been around for several years now and who wants to risk fines and fees that could put you out of business overnight.

I'm going to focus on some of the result specific to retailers with 1-50 employees and processing under $500,000 annually (which would approximate to annual gross sales of less than $800,000 annually).  Of the survey respondents...

• 71% feel that they are not at risk for a data breach
• 64% have no action plan should a breach occur
• 45% have no employee designated to check network and related security
• 36% don't feel that PCI compliance is a priority

Obviously, point of sale and merchant services companies have not done a good job of stressing the need to maintain on-going PCI compliance. One data breach (which can also come internally from a dishonest employee) can result in fines exceeding $20,000 as well as the loss of revenue and the ability to accept credit and debit cards.

If you are not sure about your PCI Compliance status, please contact the company that provides your merchant services (credit and debit card processing) to ensure that your hardware, software, and network equipment are PCI complaint.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.