As we have been sharing over the last week in this blog, changes to both online security and traditional processing are coming. We are sure that you want to know everything you can. Things like:

How is PCI and TLS affecting credit card processing for all businesses? What will this cost? Is my business at risk?

With less than a year to comply, PCI has established deadlines that may require you to update your business processing, whether via a Point-of-Sale (POS) or online.

The current deadline is July 2018.

Who created this deadline and why?

The PCI Council (which is made up of the biggest banks, including Visa and MasterCard) made an announcement to require all credit card processing to be done using a minimum of TLS 1.3 by July 2018 to protect businesses from fraud, theft and data breaches.

As you can imagine, security technology is continually being updated to keep up with the increased risks. If you are processing credit cards through a national POS provider or a web browser with a virtual Terminal connection, you may just need to update your software. In some cases, you might have to invest in new or updated hardware. Either way, you need to use the newest level of security protocols to protect your business, your investment and your customers.

If you do not know whether or not you are on an older TLS version – one that is less than the one recommended by the PCI Council – please ask. In our office, we have the resources to assist our merchant clients. Once we review with you what is needed, we can help you budget and plan for any changes to your credit card processing systems. There is still time if you act soon.

We will remind you again of this change and the pending deadlines. Keep your company from being at risk – make sure that you are PCI compliant and up to date.

~ Mary Ann