How Does Online Credit Card Processing become PCI DSS Compliance? An Analysis

PCI-DSS, which stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is a vital regulation for the merchants to process credit card transactions. It is an even more significant concern for high-risk industries because they are always under the threat of financial fraud. Online casinos, Forex trading, IPTV, adult entertainment, etc., must process their customer’s credit card payments through a decision procedure. This procedure is under rules and laws, including PCI-DSS as the most significant rule. A business must follow some do’s and don’ts to comply with this regulation. This blog is all about how a merchant makes his business Compliance with this vital credit card processing law.

First of all, know what EXACTLY is PCI-DSS?

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It is a set of online credit card processing rules for merchants made by American Express, Mastercard, Visa Discover, and JCB for several purposes. The collection of rules is destined to save the cardholder’s data, secure card payments, and prevent fraud worldwide.

The PCI-DSS has four levels that apply according to the annual transaction capacity of businesses. Level 1 is the most stringent compliance standard for companies with more than 6 million transactions annually. Level 2 is for businesses with up to 6 million annual transactions. Level 3 is for merchants with up to 1 million transactions, and Level 4 is for companies with less than 20,000 transaction value.

Terms And Conditions a Business Needs To Fulfill To Be PCI-DSS Compliance For Credit Card Processing

Merchants must follow the conditions that can get the PCI-DSS Compliance tag. Customers consider such businesses more authentic than those not displaying this certificate on their websites. Here are the points to explain what a company needs to do to be complaisant with the data security standards for credit card processing.

Uncompromised safety arrangements for cardholder’s data storage

Yes, it is the first requirement that a merchant needs to complete. After all, the security standards are for the core purpose of card holder’s data safety. The merchants follow several rules mentioned under the specific card data security standards requirement. They are as follows –

• A merchant must know accurately about the network where the card data flows during the transaction process.
• Merchants have to use secure cryptography and layered security technology to provide unreadable cardholder data and minimize the risk of data exploitation by hackers.
• The merchant has to ensure that the included third parties that process credit card payments comply with PCI-DSS levels.
• Merchants can retain the cardholder’s data only if it is authorized. Also, it needs to be protected for future transactions.
• Merchants should not have PED that is ‘Pin Entry Device’ terminals print out identifiable card data. The printouts will have to be masked or truncated.
• Never place any payment card system storage device or servers outside a secured room. Without this, a business can never do credit card processing.

Cardholders’ Data Transmission Should be Encrypted

The transmission of data is crucial, and the merchants are responsible for the safety of their customer’s financial data. The buyers trust the merchants will take care of their precious private detail when they make a transaction to purchase something.

• No single person can have complete control and access to the customer’s data. The work needs at least two people that should work in collaboration.
• Merchant will assign responsibilities separately to different people for different tasks. The person who generates the keys should never get access to the information they safeguard. Similarly, the person who has access to the protected material should not have access to the encryption keys.
• Encryption keys need to be appropriately encrypted, and the keys should be generated manually at a point where the encryption keys are publicly accessible. The merchant needs to ensure that more than one person is working on generating or regenerating keys.
• A merchant must arrange to store the encryption keys on or more forms for the best credit card processing. One form is a crypt key with a primary encryption key and the second form is in a secure cryptographic device.

Regular testing of Credit Card Processing Systems And Procedures

With time, cyber safety measures are getting more robust, and the hackers. Their tricky minds always think of new ways to intrude on the safety circle and steal a merchant’s precious data. In this case, the first two things that get into threat are customer privacy and the merchant’s goodwill in the market. Both cause a complete and long-term loss in the business. But data is always safe if the card processing systems and processes are updated with the latest safety tools and measures. For this purpose, the business owners need to follow the following conditions.

• Merchants will install a firewall configuration that protects the cardholder data. The configuration status should be checked regularly to detect any suspicious activity.
• Keep working to identify the flaws in the data security environment and work immediately to troubleshoot the issue to provide a solid shield for the customers.
• Regularly scrutinize the organization’s risk level and take necessary steps to avoid repetition of any small or big threat to the security.
• Keep a vulnerability management program in action to quickly solve any issue obstructing the daily smooth transaction processing.
• Regularly test the payment networks through a separate team dedicated to this purpose. Always keep the team equipped with the latest data safety tools and resources.
• Make and maintain an information security policy that regularly focuses on successfully operating all safety measures.

Conclusion

Whether a merchant needs the Level 1 PCI-DSS compliance approval or level 4, the terms and conditions are always stringent and unchangeable. Merchants must be sincere while getting their businesses ready to comply with PCI DSS. You understand it already if you own a business, especially a high-risk one. Circumstances will remain predictable and straightforward if you follow all the rules honestly and continue the self-discipline even after getting the PCI certificate.