6 months after deadline, many e-retailers lag in credit card data security

[mandy]

A friendly reminder to any of you with merchant accounts 

Six months after deadline for compliance, a large percentage of online merchants still haven’t complied with the data protection rules of MasterCard International, Visa U.S.A., American Express Co. and other major card brands, according to Protegrity Corp., a data security company.

In a recent survey of 150 online retailers, 26% of merchants said they hadn’t started the compliance process for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard despite a June 1, 2005, deadline set by Visa. In addition, 19% said they were just beginning the compliance process and 30% said they were in the middle of the assessment process needed to verify compliance.

... The PCI standards outline what steps online merchants must take to protect customers’ confidential data, including credit card account numbers. Retailers that fail to implement PCI could face up to a $500,000 fine or could be permanently barred from accepting credit cards.

full article:  http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=17144

[bargainbloodhound]

A friendly reminder to any of you with merchant accounts 

Friendly? I don't call that reminder friendly!!!!!

There's a checklist of steps you need to take to comply with the new regulations here:

http://www.pcistandard.com/