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WHY PCI COMPLIANCE
NEEDN’T BE THE BIND YOU
THINK IT IS
BY MARK ELLIS OF WELCOME SYSTEMS LTD
I
f you’re reading this column with a
furrowed brow and vague recollection
of ‘PCI’ as something that resulted
in you spending far too long ticking
random boxes in an attempt to answer
meaningless questions contained within a
forty page questionnaire from your credit
card acquirer, I’d suggest reading on.
The PCI DSS Standards Council exists
with a singular goal – to protect consumers
from fraudulent use of their credit cards.
And, as with any standard of this kind, it
is littered with acronyms, reams of small
print, endless requirements and – yes – the
odd ambiguous rule.
Despite the huge website and equally
voluminous companion documentation,
PCI DSS can be digested relatively easily
– with the right support and insight. With
that in mind, and because I’d rather you
didn’t tear your hair out trying to make
sense of it all, I’ve decided to pick out what
I believe to be the most important aspects
of PCI compliance which prove it isn’t the
bind you might expect.
IT PROTECTS GUESTS
Personal data is a commodity targeted
by cyber criminals, and if you remain
PCI compliant, you can rest safe in the
knowledge that the most important piece of
guest data is safe while in your possession.
IT BOOSTS GUEST CONFIDENCE
Consumers aren’t daft. When they hand
over their credit card details, they want to
be sure they’re going to be stored safely
and handled with the utmost care.
If you can rubber stamp your hotel’s
compliance with the PCI DSS standard,
you can boost guest confidence by
demonstrating how seriously you take
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the responsibility of retaining their
credit card details. That means an awful
lot to people, and they’ll repay you with
increased advocacy.
IT STEERS YOU CLEAR OF HEFTY FINES
A simple one, this; by becoming PCI
compliant, you avoid some very heavy fines.
Non-compliance fees can run into several
thousands of pounds, and we’re guessing
you’d rather avoid that…
IT REDUCES FINES FOR DATA BREACHES
As previously noted, personal data is highly
sought after on the black market, and if you
hold customer data of any kind, it will always
be at risk of a data breach. If your hotel is
PCI compliant and suffers a
breach, the fines involved
are reduced – providing
you can prove you
followed the rules of
the standard.
IT FORCES YOU TO INVEST IN THE BEST TECH
Is your hotel booking system PCI compliant?
If not, you need to find one that is.
The best hotel booking systems and POS
solutions on the market will be fully compliant
with PCI DSS. That means you’ll have to
invest in the best tech in order to remain
compliant, and that can only be a good thing,
because the best technology will enable you
to build a relevant, profitable business.
It’s simple when you put it like that, isn’t it?
Welcome Systems is running a free
webinar on 8th May that will delve deep
into the business of processing payment
cards at hotels with the help of some PCI
DSS experts. If you have even a passing
interest in this subject, it’ll be worth
forty-five minutes of your time. You can
register here: welcome-anywhere.
co.uk/pci-webinar/
www.welcome-systems.uk