The Advantages of Being PCI Certified

Many businesses have become PCI certified, whether it was required of them or not. If you are an online shopper it is important for you to look for these websites that are PCI certified if you are going to enter any personal information such as credit card numbers, etc. If you are an online business, it is important for you to become PCI certified. There are many advantages for you as a PCI certified business owner.

One o f the greatest advantages of becoming PCI certified, is that you are protecting your website from potential security threats. Part of PCI certification involves your business running daily or quarterly PCI scans. This is done by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV), and is a way for checking your site for vulnerabilities or threats that could cause your customer’s personal information to be stolen by online thieves.

Another advantage is that by being PCI certified, you are protecting cardholder information. As mentioned above, the scans will provide information to you as a website owner about any threats to your security system. You will know what needs to be done to fix these problems so that your customer’s information is safe and secure. Which brings us to another advantage; you will increase your customer’s trust, which in return means more sales for you! If the customers that visit your site know that you are PCI certified, they know that their info is safe and will continue to use your site. Also, they will spread the word to others they know about what a great site you have, and that means more business.

The biggest advantage of becoming PCI certified, is avoiding the consequences that you would face if you don’t become PCI compliant. By following the PCI Data Security Standards, which consist of 12 major requirements, and also PCI scanning, you are safe from these risks. If you don’t, you could risk having to pay major fines, or not being able to handle credit card data on your website at all.

So, what can you lose! The money and time that you put into becoming PCI certified is nothing compared to the advantages that come with it. If you haven’t yet, look into PCI compliance and make sure that you are PCI certified.