When it comes to online gateways, having premium security is one of the most prominent features. And that means meeting the highest specific Data Security Standards (DSS) enacted by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC).
PCI DSS Level 1 Compliant is the highest and strongest of the four payment security standards there are. It ensures that merchants can securely store, transmit and process both in-store and e-commerce transactions in online gateways.
The card data protection is assured through a variety of practices, such as firewall deployment, data transport encryption, and the use of anti-virus software. It is to be noted that despite the heavy safety features, businesses must still limit access to the credit card information and continuously monitor network access permissions.
Having a PCI DSS Level 1 compliance will reassure your customers about the protection of their data. It will also increase the value of your business. Any breach in contract would lead to severe financial and reputational loss for businesses.
To qualify as a Level 1 merchant, businesses must only meet one of the criterias listed below:
Processes 6 million or more Visa, Mastercard, or Discover transactions annually;
Processes 2.5 million or more American Express transactions annually;
Processes 1 million or more JCB transactions annually;
Has suffered a data breach or cyberattack that resulted in a compromise of cardholder data;
Has been identified by another card issuer as Level 1.
Businesses within other PCI merchant levels may only need to conduct an SAQ. Whereas, Level 1 security in online gateways is more demanding and requires an external PCI audit which includes:
A Report on Compliance by a Qualified Security Assessor (PCI QSA) or Internal Security Assessor (ISA)
Quarterly PCI scans by Approved Scanning Vendors (ASV)
An annual penetration test to check for possible vulnerabilities
A PCI Attestation of Compliance (PCI AOC) by a QSA
A payment service provider (PSP) is not a merchant or payment brand. Its primary activities are to collect, process or transfer credit card information on behalf of another company. That is, the PSP is responsible for controlling the protection of cardholder data.
It does so by managing service companies that provide firewall, IDS/IPS, etc. among others. A business can become a Level 1 merchant only through a Level 1 service provider, such as PayChoice.
There are only two levels for service provider PCI compliance. The criteria for Level 1 service providers are:
provider must process, transmit, or store more than 300,000 credit card transactions annually.
To ensure transparency, Level 1 service providers must comply with several validation requirements. Such as:
Annual audit on compliance by a qualified security assessor;
Penetration testing and internal scans;
Network scans performed quarterly by an approved scanning vendor;
Submission of completed Attestation of Compliance form.
As mentioned earlier, a merchant can achieve level 1 compliance in online Gateways through a level 1 PSP. And Paychoice will ensure all your payment transactions and data are secured through a variety of safety measures without the hassle of hosting and managing your e-commerce platform.