How a Security Breach Can Affect You:
• More than 90% of cardholder data breaches occur in small business locations.
• Data breaches average from $10,000 to $50,000 in financial and remediation costs, not to mention reputation risk and potential loss of credit card acceptance privileges.
• Liability for fines levied by the card brands will fall on you, the merchant, if you are found to be responsible for breaches resulting in mandatory card replacements.
You are required to be compliant with the PCI-DSS at all times to protect the cardholder data you handle daily. If you do not comply, your sensitive data - and your customers' sensitive data - are both at risk for compromise by a third-party. You may also face fines levied by the card associations and processors for non-compliance, and fees for costs related to the breach, such as chargebacks and card re-issuance fees.
The security of card processing is a top priority at Forte. We have partnered with Aperia Solutions to provide the Forte PCI Compliance Program. In order to proceed with enrollment into the Forte PCI Compliance Program, please email your request to pci@forte.net. Be sure to include your official Merchant Name and Merchant ID. The email must be sent from the primary contact’s email address provided on your application. Further instructions will be provided upon completion of enrollment.
The monthly fee of the Forte PCI Compliance Program is $7.99 and will be included on your regular monthly invoice. The fee for the program includes online instruction and assistance with registration and completion of the PCI online questionnaire (which must be validated yearly), individualized response for any questions you have in completing the questionnaire, notification of PCI compliant status and ongoing monthly vulnerability scans of your systems.
Merchants who have not validated PCI compliance will be charged a PCI Non-Compliance fee of $29.99 per month until a PCI compliant status is achieved.