Nodus Payment Clinic


	We know how overwhelming it can be to find relevant information on what you actually need when it comes to Merchant Serives, electronic payments and PCI Compliance. Below you'll find guides that cover common issues and questions.

PCI A Quick Guide to PCI Compliance
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard is intended to protect cardholders' credit card account and transaction information. Merchants who do not comply could face restrictions by the card brands and may be subjected to fines. American Express®, Discover® Card, MasterCard International®, and Visa® U.S.A. all issued a requirement for merchants and service providers to comply with the PCI standard as well as pass quarterly and annual audits to help ensure compliance.

PCI Compliance requires merchants, processors, and acquirers to secure their databases to prevent unwanted intrusions from hackers. The goal is to have a common set of data protection tools, measurements, and data security validation processes.

How to Maintain Effective Security Management

	Build and maintain a secure network including the use of anti-virus, firewalls, system patching and contingency planning.
	Protect cardholder data - if stored or transmitting, card information must be encrypted.
	Maintain a vulnerability management program with periodic network security scanning.
	Implement strong access control measures to all card information databases.
	Create and enforce an information security policy.

Merchant	Description	Validation Action
Level 1	Over 6,000,000 transactions per year. Identified by payment card brand as Level 1 risk	Annual on site audit and quarterly remote scans of their web sites and servers
Level 2	150,000 to 6,000,000 transactions per year	Annual self assessment questionnaire and quarterly remote scans
Level 3	20,000 to 150,000 transactions per year	Annual self assessment questionnaire and quarterly remote scans
Level 4	Less than 20,000 transactions per year	Annual self assessment questionnaire and quarterly remote scans highly recommended


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