Article: PCI Compliance In The Retail Market

By Brad Fick, President, Direct Source, Inc.

Compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council is an immediate and costly focus for many industries, and the retail market is no different. While retailers are trying to increase sales, lower prices and keep customer satisfaction high in the wake of a recession, meeting PCI standards has also been a key business driver.

Securing customer data is a main focus for PCI standards. The hardware technology installed, how the customer data from each piece of hardware is processed and how the retailer handles data determines industry compliance. For example, at the point-of-sale (POS), retailers have access to a large amount of customer data through payment terminals. According to the PCI council, a retailer cannot hold the information for an extended period of time, so procedures and processes for handling customer information are constantly changing to keep up with industry standards.