The 5 Easy Ways To Know If Your Payment Gateway Is PCI DSS Compliant

Mar 8, 2023 | Gateway, Payments, Risk

Have you ever wondered if your payment gateway is PCI compliant? Here are five easy ways to know if your payment gateway is PCI compliant and what to do if it’s not.

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has set data security standards. Any merchant or payment processor whose systems need to handle credit card details must comply with PCI standards. This article shares five easy ways to know if your payment gateway is PCI compliant so that you can feel confident when handling sensitive customer data.

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What is PCI compliance?

PCI compliance is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) that companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information must adhere to. The PCI DSS was designed by credit card companies (Visa, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and JCB) to help protect cardholders from fraud and data breaches. 

All companies that accept credit cards must be PCI compliant. This includes businesses of all sizes, from small e-commerce stores to large multinational corporations. If you are not PCI compliant, you may be subject to fines from the credit card companies and your payment processor, and you may also put your customers at risk of fraud or data theft. 

The four levels of PCI compliance depend on the number of transactions you process per year: Level 1 is for businesses that process more than 6 million transactions per year, Level 2 is for companies that process 1-6 million transactions per year, Level 3 is for companies that process 20-1 million transactions per year, and Level 4 is for companies that process fewer than 20 thousand transactions per year. 

To become PCI compliant, you will need to answer a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which is a document that asks questions about your business’s credit card processing procedures. Depending on your results to the SAQ, you may also need to provide additional documentation or hire a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA)


What does PCI compliance mean for me?

PCI compliance is a set of security standards businesses must follow to accept credit card payments. This includes ensuring that credit card data is stored, transmitted, and processed securely.

 PCI compliance is essential for businesses of all sizes that accept credit card payments, as it helps to protect customers’ sensitive information and reduces the risk of fraud. Following the PCI security standards can be complex and time-consuming, but many resources and services are available to help businesses meet these requirements. Tunl has integrated these tasks into its gateway to make your compliance much smoother. 

If your business accepts credit card payments, it’s crucial to ensure that your payment gateway is PCI compliant. This will help protect your customers’ data and reduce the risk of fraud. 

What does PCI compliance mean for me?<br />

What are the five easy ways to know if my payment gateway is PCI compliant?

 Here are the five most common ways to ensure that your payment gateway is PCI compliant.

  1. Check with your provider: Most reputable payment gateway providers will have information readily available on their websites about whether or not they are PCI compliant. This is usually found in the FAQ section or their terms and conditions. 

  1. Ask for a copy of their compliance certificate: All PCI compliant providers should be able to show you a copy of their compliance certificate upon request. This document will outline what specific requirements they meet to be considered compliant.

  1. Look for the PCI logo on their website: Many providers will display the PCI logo prominently if they are indeed compliant. This can usually be found in the footer or on the checkout page.

  1. Check for an up-to-date SAQ: Service providers that must complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) to be considered compliant should have the most recent version available on their website. You can usually find this under their site’s “Security” or “Compliance” section.

  1. Verify using an independent scanner: If you’re still unsure about a provider’s compliance status, you can always use a separate scanner such as Qualys SSL Labs or ssllabs.com to verify. Or reach out to an agent at Signature Payments for assistance confirming your PCI compliance is up to date.

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Conclusion

These are the most important things to confirm that your payment gateway is PCI compliant:

  1. Check to see if they have an SSL certificate and if their website is encrypted.
  2. See if they have a PCI compliance seal or badge on their site.
  3. Contact their customer support team and ask them about their PCI compliance policies and procedures.

By following these steps, you can be sure that your payment gateway is PCI compliant and that your payments are safe and secure.