What is PCI DSS compliance?
PCI compliance, or PCI DSS compliance to give it its full name, stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
It’s a set of standards that you must comply with if you’re taking card payments to make sure you are doing so safely and securely.
This includes how you store, process and transmit cardholder’s details and it helps protect both you and your customers.
No matter how big or small your business is, you need to meet the relevant standards if you want to accept cards.
If you don’t, you’ll face fees every month and it could put you and your customers at risk of card payment fraud and data breaches.
What is PCI DSS compliance?
PCI compliance, or PCI DSS compliance to give it its full name, stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
It’s a set of standards that you must comply with if you’re taking card payments to make sure you are doing so safely and securely.
Ways to take card payments
We offer a wide range of card payments solutions, including:
The card machine that does more.
- Take card and cash payments which you can track as you trade
- Get insights into your sales transactions in real time
- Easy setup
Card machines
Give your customers more ways to pay face-to-face.
- Take payments the way you want
- Latest PCI DSS security features
- Comes with contactless, Apple Pay and Android Pay as standard
Online payments
Get more sales in by taking payments online.
- Take card payments 24/7
- Attract a new online audience to your business
- Quick and safe way to pay
Phone payments
Take easy card payments over the phone.
- Easy-to-use virtual terminal system
- Gives customers more flexibility
- Offer your products to people outside your local area
Why choose takepayments?
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Get PCI compliant.
We can help! Our dedicated PCI compliance team are on hand to guide you through the entire process.
You’ll need to complete a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ), which can be up to 300 questions long depending on how many card payments you process.
We can help you answer these questions to make sure that you meet all the requirements necessary.
You’ll need to do this every year in order to remain compliant, and we can help you each time.
Get a free quote
It was really simple to get set up with card payments. The rep came out to see me to set me up. They helped me over the phone with the PCI compliance and everything was so straight forward, really easy.
Gill Wilde, Pony Patch
It was really simple to get set up with card payments. The rep came out to see me to set me up. They helped me over the phone with the PCI compliance and everything was so straight forward, really easy.
Gill Wilde, Pony Patch
FAQs
What are different levels of PCI?
There are four different ones, but you only need to meet the requirements of one, depending on how many card transactions you process.
We’ll be able to tell you which one is relevant to your business, don’t worry. And we can help you answer the questions you need to, to make sure you’re compliant. The different levels are:
- Level 1 – if your business processes over 6 million card transactions each year.
- Level 2 – if your business processes 1 million to 6 million card transactions each year.
- Level 3 – if your business processes 20,000 to 1 million e-commerce transactions each year.
- Level 4 – if your business processes less than 20,000 e-commerce transactions each year and other merchants processing up to 1 million card transactions a year.
How do I know if I need to be compliant?
If you process card payments, you must be PCI compliant. It’s as simple as that!
No matter how big or small your business is, these are legal requirements you must meet.
What happens if I am not compliant?
You could face hefty non-compliance charges. Depending on your acquirer, there may also be a charge from them for being non-compliant in the form of monthly non-compliance fees.
Do I need to be PCI compliant if I only take online payments?
Yes, no matter how you take card payments, you need to meet the PCI data security standards. That includes taking online payments.
Terms and conditions apply.
Businesses will be required to enter into and maintain a separate contract with an acquiring bank nominated by takepayments for the processing of the card transactions. Under the contract with the acquiring bank, transaction charges and other fees will apply.
