Many of you are now keenly aware of PCI Compliance and its burden on merchants. For online merchants it is the single most expensive piece of the merchant account! I have spoken to Rep. Mike Castle's office about the burden of PCI Compliance during the discussion of the debate on the financial services industry and will continue to discuss it in the future.
There are some facts which are coming to light:
You have 30 days from the opening of your merchant account to complete the survey sent via email. For merchants using Metro Merchant Services, please contact me and I will walk you through the survey. You should result in a "SAQ-A" merchant category with N/A as the Question 9 list of responses and Yes as the Question 12 answers.
If you do not complete the survey within the 30 days, you will be assessed a monthly $20 noncompliance fee. Ouch!
But there is some good news with this - if you change your merchant account and have satisfied the PCI Compliance questionnaire through your original merchant account, you do NOT have to start over. You are in compliance for the duration of the original certificate. For some of you I have laughed and said to frame the certificate. Little did I know that was true! Keep that certificate so you can show your compliance through its expiration date. You'll be notified 2 months prior to expiration for a renewal. Same is true for you who have merchant accounts through other providers and are switching to our lower cost solution.
And above all, 82North and DonorMarket are compliant services, connected to the PCI-certified Metro Payment Gateway. If you are using a web-based donor/member database, make sure your solution is PCI certified. Security breaches are happening more frequently as more people use the internet for financial transactions!
Call me at 888-900-3658 or 800-979-0082 if you have questions.
Betsey
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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