PCI Program FAQs: What is a PCI Program?

What is a PCI Program?

A PCI program is a system that acquirers use to keep track of their merchants PCI compliance, and for merchants to receive the training and tools they need to achieve PCI compliance and remain PCI compliant.

See also: SecurityMetrics vs. Other PCI Program Providers

How much does a PCI Program cost?

The cost of a PCI program can range depending on how much work you’d like to outsource to SecurityMetrics.

Because program costs vary so much, we recommend that you speak to SecurityMetrics Channel Sales to get an exact quote.

What is the PCI Program implementation process like?

After contracts have been signed, your SecurityMetrics point-of-contact will schedule a kickoff call. During the kickoff call, your merchant needs and goals will be established, along with the next steps for implementation. You will then receive onboarding and training so you can extract the specific reports you need from the Partner+ Portal.

Educating your merchants is vital to helping your program be as successful as possible. SecurityMetrics offers unique academy PCI training, webinars, and blogs to help you merchants understand their PCI responsibilities.

You will also benefit from a targeted email campaign that will include important deadlines and onboarding information. You will also receive weekly calls to ensure your merchants are getting the attention they need and program goals are being met.

How can I make PCI easier for my merchants?

PCI can be very difficult for merchants. SecurityMetrics has created a tool called FastPass, which auto-fills your merchant’s SAQ and uses non-technical language they understand. FastPass can also be customized to use the exact names of terminals that your merchants are familiar with, avoiding confusion.

Your merchants will also benefit from Easy Order SAQ in FastPass, which starts them off with the simplest questions and if they have questions they will have access to SecurityMetrics 24/7 technical support.

What makes a good PCI Program?

• A good PCI program will make PCI compliance easier for merchants and acquirers. If a PCI program is easy for acquirers, but unhelpful for merchants, then the PCI program isn’t going to be helpful in the long run. This is why simplicity for acquirers and merchants should be a top priority when looking for a PCI program.
• A PCI program should have excellent technical support. If acquirers and merchants know that they can easily get the technical support they need, they will be more likely to reach out when they run into issues with PCI compliance.
• In addition to supporting merchants, a quality PCI program ensures that you, as the manager of the program, also get excellent 1:1 support, consulting, and training.
• Another indicator of a high-quality PCI program is the available products that help merchants implement requirements, not only validate compliance. This not only helps the merchants with their compliance, but also increases security and can provide a revenue option for acquirers.
• Finally, a good PCI program should have a process in place to not only assist level 1 and 2 merchants with security assessments, but also be able to report that progress to the acquirer. This of course is in addition to level 3 and 4 self-assessing merchant compliance reporting.

Ensuring that your PCI program has each of these options will significantly decrease the frustrations of merchants and acquirers

SecurityMetrics offers a high-quality, robust program because their objective is to get all merchants to achieve and maintain PCI compliance. Currently, 94% of SecurityMetrics customers that started their SAQ have achieved a passing status within an average of 20 days.

If you decide that SecurityMetrics is the best solution for you and your company, you can get more detailed informaton about their PCI Programs here.