What are the three steps of PCI compliance?

The three steps of PCI compliance are assess, repair, and report:

Assess: First, you must take stock of your assets and processes dealing with cardholder data. Identify anything that might put this data at risk, like vulnerabilities or weak spots.

Repair: Once you’ve found these weak links, it’s time to fix them. Patch up vulnerabilities and ensure your business processes are as secure as possible.

Report:

1. Remember to document everything you’ve done.
2. Create reports that show the assessment process and how you’ve mended any issues.
3. Share these reports with the banks and card companies you work with so they know you’re playing by the rules.

What if companies don’t follow PCI standards? 

The PCI SSC isn’t a government authority, but they can still take action. The main consequence is a financial one. Non-compliance can lead to fines, which can add to legal fees, banking fines for every stolen card, costs for federal audits, and cleanup expenses, including forensic investigations.

While these fines can be hefty (starting at $500,000), there’s more at stake. Non-compliance can damage your reputation and erode trust with banks, partners, and customers in the long run.

And here’s a key point: even if you use a PCI DSS-compliant payment processor, like PayPal, it doesn’t free you from PCI requirements (though it does limit the scope). If you handle cardholder data or work with a payment processor that does, you must follow the rules. It’s all about keeping that card data secure.