PCI Compliance should be a concern for your business. All Elavon merchants must conform to the guidelines set forth by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards Council to keep customer data secure.

The PCI compliance requirements are guidelines that all merchants must follow, and include the annual completion of the PCI Compliance checklist and questionnaire. But let’s face it, what you really want to know is, what exactly is it?

What is PCI compliance and how does it affect me?

As a business, you accept credit card payments, and therefore intend to store, process and transmit cardholder data. In order to do this, you must host your data securely with a PCI compliant hosting provider, such as Elavon. Ensuring that you and your customer’s data is safe reduces your exposure to fraud, and protects your business.

So what? What happens if I’m not PCI compliant?

Failing to be PCI Compliant leaves you vulnerable to security attacks and data breaches, which could seriously compromise your business. For any business that is non-compliant, a $20 monthly non-compliance fee is charged in Canada, and $59.95 in the United States.

What are the benefits to becoming compliant?

• Elavon offers card data breach reimbursement up to $250,000 when combined with their Safe-T Security Solutions
• The online PCI Compliance Manager is easy to follow, and provides step-by-step instructions to becoming compliant
• Gain access to valuable tips and information on how to protect your business from fraud

How do I become compliant?

Becoming compliant is very easy. Follow the steps below:

For new clients:

1. Please go to pcicompliancemanager.com
2. Click on “First Sign-In”
3. Put in your merchant ID number and the access code below, then click “Register”
4. In the next screen, please select a username (or you can keep it as the merchant ID number) and a password and confirm the email address on file, then click “Save and Continue”
5. Once you have completed the steps above, go through the survey. Many of the questions may be about issues you are unfamiliar with, but don’t give up. Contact the office at support@hitechmerchants.ca. We are here to help.

For existing clients, when you don’t remember your username and password:

1. Please go to pcicompliancemanager.com
2. Click on “Forgot username”
3. Put in your email address and your merchant ID number
4. You will then get an email with your username
5. Go back to the initial website, click on “Forgot password”
6. Put in the username that was emailed to you and your email address
7. You will then receive an email with a temporary password

Remember we are here to help. Once you have retrieved your login credentials, you will need to send that information to my support staff at support@hitechmerchants.ca. It’s really that simple, fast and easy.