Pci Dss Faqs: We Suggest That You Contact Your Acquirer
Pci Dss Faqs: We Suggest That You Contact Your Acquirer
Pci Dss Faqs: We Suggest That You Contact Your Acquirer
Even if your acquirer did not request any evidence of compliance it is the responsibility
of each legal entity processing credit card transactions to be PCI DSS compliant.
We suggest that you contact the credit card branch that you are working with.
4. Where can I find more information directly from the main card payment
brands?
You can see below the contact details for the card payment brand:
American Express
Discover
JCB International
MasterCard
Visa Inc
The answer to this question is no. Any sort of documentation which is not under
the authority and validation of PCI DSS, will not be accepted for indicating the
companys compliance with PCI DSS.
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml
10. Can a QSA that is not listed in a specific country but listed in another
country conduct a certification process in the non-listed country?
Overall speaking, yes. Nevertheless it should be noted that under the QSA
program guide, section 6.3.1, there are qualified regions in which QSA can or
cannot perform. As noted QSA Companies are authorized to perform PCI DSS
Assessments and QSA-related duties only in the geographic region(s) or
country(s) for which they have paid the regional or country fees, and as indicated
on the QSA List.
All merchants will fall into one of the four merchant levels based on Visa
transaction volume over a 12-month period. Transaction volume is based on
the aggregate number of Visa transactions (inclusive of credit, debit and
prepaid) from a merchant Doing Business As (DBA). In cases where a
merchant corporation has more than one DBA, Visa acquirers must consider
the aggregate volume of transactions stored, processed or transmitted by the
corporate entity to determine the validation level. If data is not aggregated, such
that the corporate entity does not store, process or transmit cardholder data on
behalf of multiple DBAs, acquirers will continue to consider the DBAs individual
transaction volume to determine the validation level.
Listed below are the Merchants levels criteria for VISA and MasterCard.
Although there are technically three (3) other major payment brands (AMEX,
Discover, and JCB), compliance with the two (2) noted brands generally covers
the others:
It is reasonable for the Travel Agency to read all references to the merchant as
applying to his own activity in conducting card sales, because for the card industry
the merchant is the one conducting the card transaction.
Annual On-site PCI Data Security Qualified Security Assessor or Internal Audit
1 Assessment and Quarterly Network if signed by Officer of the company
Scan Approved Scanning Vendor
Note.- (*) For Level 2 merchants under Mastercard SDP program there is a notation as follows: Effective 30 June 2012, Level 2
merchants that choose to complete an annual self-assessment questionnaire must ensure that staff engaged in the self-
assessment attend PCI SSC ISA Training and pass the associated accreditation program annually in order to continue the option
of self-assessment for compliance validation. Alternatively, Level 2 merchants may, at their own discretion, complete an annual
onsite assessment conducted by a PCI SSC approved Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) rather than complete an annual self-
assessment questionnaire.
That being said, it should be noted that merchant levels are usually set up as
per the VISA and MasterCard transactions, and, though there are technically
three other major payment brands (AMEX, Discover, and JCB), compliance
with the two noted brands generally covers the others.
The merchant executive officer is the officer of the Travel Agency that has
responsibility for compliance/regulatory matters. This is often the Chief
Financial Officer, but could be a Chief Security Officer, Chief Technology
Officer, even the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer.
You can do it jointly for all those point of sales for which the head office has full
financial responsibility. In this case, you are only required to validate once
annually for all locations and submit quarterly passing network scans by a PCI
SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) for each location, if applicable.
If an agency does not process credit card transactions, the Travel Agency must
submit a declaration stating that signed by the authorized signatory of the
Travel Agency. Such Travel Agency will not be required to provide compliance
evidence, however this information will be kept on file and once
New Gen ISS resolutions are effective in a country, Travel Agency Credit Card
form of payment will be switched off.
18. If there is a blanket GDS compliance- can they not have those
certifications as supporting documents?
As part of the distribution chain, Travel Agency must capture payment card
data and store or transmit such data in a PCI DSS compliant way to
intermediaries such as GDSs which must then also store the card data in an
equally secure way in accordance with PCI guidelines.
It is incumbent of each and every participant (e.g. Travel Agency, GDSs, etc.)
to protect customers payment card data regardless of their size.
In light of the above, it is within the purview of the Travel Agency to check with
his GDS providers their PCI status as part of his evaluation of the card
acceptance.
19. If I only accept credit cards over the phone, does PCI DSS still apply to
me?
Yes. Merely using a third-party company does not exclude a Travel Agency
from PCI DSS compliance. It may cut down on their risk exposure and
consequently reduce the effort to validate compliance. However, it does not
mean they can ignore the PCI DSS.
It should be noted that it is incumbent on the Travel Agency to verify the PCI
status of each provider to whom it delegates card payment related tasks.
21. My travel agency doesnt store credit card data so PCI compliance doesnt
apply to us, right?
If you accept credit or debit cards as a form of payment, then PCI compliance
applies to you. The storage of card data is risky, so if you dont store card data,
then becoming secure and compliant may be easier.
It is not only the storage of data that is vulnerable to hackers, but that they may
also go after sensitive card payment data when in transit though systems,
hence securing data storage or ensuring there is no storage is good but not
enough.
22. We already have a PCI DSS Compliant certificate issued by a third party.
Is this enough to cover our BSP or do we need to complete more forms?