More PCI compliant merchants in 2008, reported by Visa and PCI Council

PCI Security Standards Council and Visa report that more merchants are validating their compliance to the PCI DSS. The set of rules provides merchants, banks and third-party processors with guidelines for the safe handling of customers' credit card information. PCI Council thinks that the failure to comply with the standards may lead to data breach and as a result to losses.

Latest figures provided by Visa reveal that 65% of the largest merchants validated their compliance to the PCI DSS as compared with 36% in December 2006. Midsize merchants are also among those who try to get PCI DSS certification with 43% now compliant with the standard against just 15% at the end of 2006. Besides, as noted by Bob Russo, general manager with the PCI Security Standards Council, another 33% are on their way to get compliance.

As for small merchants the situation is much worse here as they often lack the resources to properly comply with a program such as PCI DSS. Yet Russo thinks that this is first of all the issue of education. He says that the PCI Council is always trying to render assistance to these merchants with card brands and acquirers sending literature about PCI in their statements to small merchants. But finally small merchants fail to study this information.

Russo notes that the compliance is more indispensable to small merchants as long as in case they suffer data breach there will be fines, remediation costs and then a full-blown audit. And the last is lost customers.