My12VoltStore.com is PCI Certified - Our Competitors are Not

What Is PCI/CISP?

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) is a joint creation of Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. In response to the growing frequency and severity of credit card and identity theft, this organization created the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), with the overall goal of protecting credit card data wherever it may reside.

The Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) was initiated and mandated by Visa in June 2001 by Visa. In 2004, these requirements were incorporated into the PCI DSS to establish industry wide standards for card security. These standards must be followed by both merchants and providers.

Why Is This Important?

Identity theft is a major issue that is growing exponentially. The FTC estimates that approximately nine million Americans have their identity stolen each year, a crime amounting to $45 billion.

For the merchant, the penalties of using a non-PCI compliant provider can include:

$500,000 in fines (per incident)

Complete loss of ability to process card transactions

Class-actions lawsuits

$10,000 in monthly fines

Major public relations crises

For the customer, credit card and/or identity theft is devastating. Dozens of calls must be made, dozens of

forms must be filled and credit can be ruined. The customer has a new sense of mistrust that makes them weary to purchase online.