Data security has become a primary consideration for every business that accepts credit and debit cards as payment for goods or services. The five major card brands established the Payment Card Industry Council to oversee the Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) and to promote the security of the credit and debit card data being presented into the payment systems. All merchants and acquirers are required to comply with PCI-DSS and all payment applications must be certified and validated each year. One requirement of PCI-DSS is completing an annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), a validation tool used by merchants to establish and demonstrate their PCI-DSS compliance.
Elavon’s PCI Compliance Program takes a comprehensive approach to assist your business meet your compliance requirements while protecting your reputation and your bottom line. Please read the enclosed brochure, “Understanding Cardholder Data Security” for specific details about the elements of our program.
Getting started and completing your required SAQ is simple:

Visit our PCI website, http://pci.elavon.com and select your method of processing payments from the Elavon PCI home page.

From there you will be provided with information about PCI requirements and will receive the documents required to complete your SAQ.

Click on the link that will take you through the validation process via our Visa® and MasterCard® accredited Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and Approved Scanning Vendor’s website.
You will have until November 29, 2009 to complete the SAQ. If you do not become compliant by that date, you will be assessed a PCI non-compliance fee of $20 per month beginning on your November statement. You will be charged the non-compliance fee until you successfully complete the validation process required to establish your PCI compliance.
Annual PCI Fee of up to $175, based on connectivity, for this compliance validation service will be assessed annually beginning with your September statement. The fee provides for access to our QSA, online compliance validation and available data breach financial coverage up to $100,000 should a data breach occur. If you have already completed an SAQ for 2009 through another PCI compliance program, please visit http://pci.elavon.com and click on Already Compliant. Once received, your merchant account will be charged a $35 administrative fee to cover your mandatory PCI program participation.
If you have any questions please call Elavon’s Customer Service department at 1-800-377-3962. We appreciate you selecting Elavon as your transaction processor and your commitment to securing you’re your customers’ cardholder data as it is presented into the various payment networks.