Why Retailers Need a PCI Compliant POS

What is PCI Compliance

The PCI Security Standards Council was developed by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa to maintain and promote standards for the Payment Card Industry to protect cardholder data. The council works with merchants and POS vendors, software and hardware developers and more to create secure payment processes.

Importance of Implementing a PCI Compliant POS

Retailers who accept or process credit cards are affected by the PCI Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS). This means they will need to be be prepared to meet their requirements in their stores. According to the council this includes:

• Install and maintain a firewall to protect cardholder data
• Update system passwords and other security parameters from default settings
• Protect stored cardholder data
• Encrypt transmissions of cardholder data across open, public networks
• Use and update anti-virus programs
• Develop and maintain secure systems and applications
• Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
• Assign unique IDs to each person with computer access
• Restrict physical access to cardholder data
• Track and monitor access to network resources and cardholder data
• Regularly test security systems and processes
• Maintain a policy that addresses information security for employees and contractors

Runit’s PCI Compliant POS

Runit Real-Time already adheres to the security standards that the PCI Council outlines for its applications. This makes it easier retailers to ensure their software security will meet the needs of their staff and their customers. Merchants have centralized control over who has access to sensitive information and activities and this can be customized to provide or deny the correct access through employee management features. Additional security features include all key activities can be traced back to the individual who logged in, maximum dollar amount of a sale can be defined for what each employee is allowed to process and specific employees can be defined as technicians who conduct service schedules and service time cards.