YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES PAYMENT DATA AND YOUR COMPLIANCE PROGRAM NEEDS TO PROTECT IT
PCI is not optional for any organization that processes, stores, or transmits credit card data. We help you understand what's actually required for your specific situation and build a program that holds up to scrutiny.
What is PCI-DSS and does it apply to you?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI-DSS, is a set of security requirements established by the major card brands to protect cardholder data. It applies to any organization that processes, stores, or transmits credit card data, regardless of size or industry.
PCI-DSS compliance is not a government regulation but it is a contractual requirement enforced through your payment processor and acquiring bank. Non-compliance can result in fines, increased transaction fees, loss of the ability to process card payments, and liability for fraud losses in the event of a breach.
If your business takes credit card payments in any form, PCI-DSS applies to you.
What level of pci compliance do you need?
PCI-DSS uses a merchant level system based on your annual transaction volume. Your level determines how you validate compliance:
Level 1: Over 6 million transactions annually. Requires an annual onsite assessment by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and quarterly network scans.
Level 2: Between 1 and 6 million transactions annually. Can validate compliance through a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and quarterly network scans.
Level 3: Between 20,000 and 1 million e-commerce transactions annually. SAQ and quarterly network scans required.
Level 4: Fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions or up to 1 million total transactions annually. SAQ required, network scans may be required depending on your payment processor.
Most early-stage and growing companies fall into Level 3 or 4 and can validate compliance through an SAQ rather than a full QSA assessment. Understanding which SAQ type applies to your environment is one of the first things we figure out together.
WHAT DOES PCI-DSS COMPLIANCE INVOLVE?
PCI-DSS has 12 core requirements covering network security, access controls, encryption, monitoring, and vulnerability management. What those requirements look like in practice depends heavily on how your environment is scoped.
Scoping is where most companies either save or waste significant time and money. If your cardholder data environment is scoped too broadly, you end up implementing controls across systems that don't need them. Scoped correctly, your compliance effort is focused on what actually matters.
Building a compliant program means understanding your environment, defining the right scope, implementing the required controls, and maintaining the documentation and evidence your payment processor or assessor needs to see.
What working with Anchorpoint looks like
Every PCI-DSS engagement starts with understanding how your business processes payment data, what your current environment looks like, and what merchant level and SAQ type applies to your situation.
From there we help you scope your cardholder data environment correctly, identify gaps in your current controls, build a remediation plan your team can execute, and prepare your documentation and evidence whether you are completing an SAQ or preparing for a QSA assessment.
You may already have a compliance platform in place or be wondering whether you need one. We help you work through that decision and can support you either way, with or without a platform.
The Anchorpoint difference
Per-project pricing.
Former auditors, not generalist consultants.
You work with the founders.
We know what a defensible PCI-DSS program looks like from the inside. We know where companies scope too broadly, where they cut corners that actually matter, and how to build something that holds up whether you're completing an SAQ or walking into a QSA assessment. That's what you're hiring when you work with Anchorpoint.