Help your Customers Feel More Secure by Becoming PCI Compliant

Online consumers are becoming more aware of how serious Identity Theft and Hacking is in today’s inter-web world. This is great, because fraudulent activity has dropped with more and more online customers signing up for online security with companies like Trust Guard.

However, we are now coming across the ironic problem where businesses are not taking their online security as seriously as they should be – just when websites have become more vulnerable than ever. If your business is processing credit cards for your business, it is not only recommended and preferred that you are PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliant, but it is actually against the law to be processing without it.

On a side note, if you are running credit card transactions and are not PCI Compliant then you are, in essence, telling your customers that you don’t care if their information is hacked.

By not being PCI Compliant, statistics have shown that the percentage of sales decreases. Companies who go from non-compliance to being PCI Compliant generally increase sales by 30% in just the first month! That should make any company want to be PCI Compliant regardless of the rules set by the data security council.

So why are some Business Owners ignoring PCI Compliance Requirements? My thought is that business owners may not understand the importance and security benefits of PCI Compliance.

If business owners were to think of PCI Compliance as insurance for their credit card processing, then perhaps they would be more willing to comply. Think of car insurance: no, you don’t get in accidents every day, or even every year, however if you did and you didn’t have insurance --- you would wish you did.

PCI Compliance is the same way. Businesses that do not have a PCI Certificate of Security Seal are going to be out of luck, paying for any losses due to fraud on their own. These charges for fraud and identity theft against a business are usually around $20,000 - $50,000 per case. If you are protected by a PCI Compliant company though, they will offer you protection in these cases and help cover any losses just like an insurance company would.

Being PCI Compliant is not only a smart thing to do for an instance when you are faced again fraudulence and hackers, but it is also the right thing to do. Having security scan and seals that show potential consumers that their information is safe will nudge more of them to purchase from you. Your customers will feel safe and protected when they see that your site is PCI compliant.