PCI Compliance has been a popular issue lately and has prompted a lot of questions and inquiries.

PCI Compliance and validation regulations outline a set of security standards PCI Compliance security standards that are designed to protect cardholder information that is stored and used in applications or while making a transaction. The Payment Card Industry pcisecuritystandards.org/, including Mastercard and Visa, require banks, online merchants and Member Service Providers to adhere to these standards to ensure the security of cardholder data. If a company/merchant is PCI compliant they have developed and maintain secure systems and applications that protect cardholder data and encrypt transmission of this data across open, public networks. This becomes critical as it relates to transmitting EFT records for monthly member billing. You should confirm that your software provider is PCI compliant so that your member records are not in danger of being compromised in any way. Failure to comply with these security standards can result in fines, restrictions or permanent explusion from card acceptance programs.

For more on this subject, read "Time to Comply," the PCI story that appeared in the May 2007 issue of Club Industry's Fitness Business Pro magazine.
Time to Comply