Any retail merchant, internet merchant, home-based business owner in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County or the greater Southern California Region that is accepting credit cards, needs to monitor and maintain their merchant accounts, and ensure that their credit card processing is in step with PCI Compliance. Small business has carried a high percentage of the data breaches that occur each year, as much as 80% of it-and it’s no wonder. These smaller companies have less money to invest in protective measures that a lot of large corporations enjoy.
There are programs put into place to help Santa Barbara Merchants stay within the guidelines and protect their customer's financial information. This helps keep our economy on far more stable ground, protect peoples’ personal lives and make merchants and vendors far more reputable in the public eye-an important thing for maintaining a healthy and practical business.
This set of guidelines comes by way of the PCI DSS. Their importance grows with each passing year. More and more assaults are being launched in order to obtain personal and financial data from unsuspecting customers who may have willingly, or even unwittingly, entrusted their information to a service provider, a bank, or a credit card company. One of the most popular methods illicit information is gained is through methods like phishing, which involves tricking users into providing their personal information.
These security breaches when accepting credit cards has been the downfall of quite a few major players in the business world. Security breaches will cause customers to change who they do business with faster than any other factor. The PCI DSS is an intense security standard that puts in place some guidelines and precautions for anyone who handles credit card processing and stores and transmits this sensitive data.
The PCI Security Standards Council was formed in September of 2006. They were put into place for managing and overseeing the ongoing growth of the PCI standards. Their requirements apply to any and all merchants who accept credit cards and/or mail or telephone orders. In other words, any type of E-commerce falls under the watchful eye of the security standards council.
Businesses and Merchants of all types in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Buellton, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Carpenteria, Lompoc, Los Olivos, Solvang and anywhere else in Santa Barbara County need to meet PCI Compliance requirements at all times, and as the guidelines change and grow, they need to stay updated and on top of the practices that will help them ensure the financial data of their customer’s is safe and secure. Security is no place to half-step in today’s world of hackers and even terrorist activity. Security for credit card processing must to a top priority for merchant services everywhere.
Jeff Skelton has been a premier merchant services provider for Santa Barbara and Southern California since 1998. He has taught thousands of retail businesses, internet business owners and home-business owners to understand how to leverage merchant accounts, ach payments and wireless credit card processing to increase their sales and profits, putting more of their own money back into their pockets. You can find more information on PCI Compliant Merchant Services, Merchant Accounts for Santa Barbara Merchants and Accepting Credit Cards Safely and Profitably by visiting
