The Economic Imperative of PCI Compliance: Risk Mitigation and Consumer Trust in Digital Payment Systems"

Payment systems are a huge part of any company’s digital success, and ensuring that customer data is secure is vital. Customers will trust companies that keep them safe, and businesses are able to maintain their integrity.

The right online financial services help businesses to grow long-term, maintain customers, and comply with PCI at the same time.

What Is PCI Compliance and How Does It Work?

Forbes lays out all of the PCI compliance requirements and helps merchants understand what they need to do and how they need to do it.

PCI compliance means that businesses are following the security standards that were built to protect customers. Businesses need to collect, process, store, and transmit data in certain ways in order to protect customers from fraud and theft. Compliance isn’t overly expensive, but it is hugely important. Here are the PCI Compliance goals:

• Protecting Customers

The biggest goal of PCI compliance is to protect customers’ sensitive data. Data breaches are not only devastating to businesses, but also to the customers they serve. It can lead to financial loss and damage the brand reputation.

• Avoid Penalties

PCI compliance is no longer just advice. If a company isn’t complying, it could receive fines from banks and credit card companies. Statista states that the average cost of a data breach in U.S. companies is over $9 million. Those costs well exceed what it would cost to simply comply.

• Build Trust

When you showcase your company’s security and reliability, that leads to customer trust and a higher reputation; there’s no better way to garner customer loyalty. Customers are a lot more likely to go to a company they trust to keep their information safe.

• Compete

Every business wants to stand out in the crowd, and PCI compliance can help a company stand out over businesses that are non-compliant.

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The Risks of Non-Compliance in Payment Systems

Payment system risks are always going to be around. The New York Times warns customers about storing too much money on certain payment apps because of those risks. There are significant risks for companies that choose non-compliance with their systems. They could be fined or sued, and a breach could damage their reputation beyond repair.

Benefits of PCI Compliance for Businesses and Customers

PCI compliance brings many benefits with it for companies, such as reduced risks of breach, reputation protection, cost savings, and standard compliance. For customers, they receive protection against identity theft, possible financial loss, and increased confidence. On both ends, there’s a sense of peace when that kind of data is secure.

How Businesses Can Achieve and Maintain PCI Compliance

There are multiple requirements for PCI compliance, and those requirements have to be put into place and then maintained over the years. These steps help merchants to gather compliance successfully.

• Step 1: Safeguard Data with Firewalls

Filter all traffic with security rules firmly in place.

• Step 2: Utilize Password Protection

Make sure customers use only strong passwords and include extra protection, like two-factor authentication.

• Step 3: Protect Sensitive Data

Have secure storage in place and utilize encryption. Limit access controls and the amount of time that sensitive information is retained.

• Step 4:  Encryption

Payment systems should protect customer data during transmission and storage so it is unreadable to anyone but the right people.

• Step 5: Have an Antivirus

Keep antivirus and malware software, which can help you detect any threats before they become a problem.

• Step 6: Updates

It’s highly important to update software regularly. Companies create updates to address issues they know about. Keeping things updated on your end helps you to avoid issues.

• Step 7: Limit Access

Sensitive information should only be accessible to authorized users.

• Step 8: Have Unique IDs

Those who are able to access sensitive details should have their own unique IDs, so if anything happens, you can pinpoint where the problem started.

• Step 10: Reviews

It’s never a bad idea to review access logs and track who has access to details and when they are taking advantage of that access.

• Step 11: Tests

Test your security measures and take note of any holes and weaknesses that can be fixed before they become a problem.

• Step 12: Have Documentation

Place a policy in document form that showcases your PCI compliance efforts.

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In conclusion

Payment system risks exist with any company, but PCI compliance reduces those risks to very slim chances. PayDo, a PCI compliant company, safeguards customer information to garner trust, protect customers, and avoid complications of many kinds. Security is the most important thing to a customer when they are making a purchase with a company through their digital systems. Companies that instill trust through security measures get more business and are able to retain customers long-term.