PCI compliance is now something almost every merchant who accepts credit cards has to come to terms with. At first it was thought to only be charged to accounts that are not in compliance. Now it is becoming clear that in most cases, all merchant accounts are having to fit the bill. I know what you are thinking, “Why should I have to pay for it if I do not store cardholder data on my computer?”
Well, that is a perfectly good question. The answer won’t make you feel any better but at least you will understand the reasoning behind why you are being charged this fee.
Basically, to sum it up, Visa is requiring this to be done by credit card processors. Credit card processors have to contact a third party scanning service to verify account compliance. The third party scanning service does tyhis for a fee. Since all merchant accounts that the credit card processor has have to be monitored, the processor has a choice. They can either charge some of their merchants a really huge fee monthly or annually, or they can charge everyone a much smaller fee monthly or annually.
Threfore, since you will more than likely be paying for PCI compliance, you might as well shop for the cheapest. I recommend finding one that is billed annually. The lowest I have seen is typically around $30.00 to $45.00 per year. And even though it is just another fee that you hate paying, if you think about it, it’s only around $3.00/month.
And remember, if you think you are paying too much for your PCI compliance, you can do one of two things. Ask your processor if you can use your own scanning service or switch to another processor that uses a cheaper one.
