Compliance for the Payment Card Industry
Online transactions are an integral part of our daily lives—and keeping payment card information secure is essential. If your business stores, processes, or transmits credit card data, then the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) likely applies to you.
As a PCI DSS qualified security assessor (QSA) firm, BARR Advisory helps organizations achieve PCI DSS compliance so your customers can rest assured that their data is secure as your business grows.
BARR uses our four-phase PCI DSS proven process to help organizations prepare for and successfully achieve compliance seamlessly.
The planning phase of PCI DSS compliance helps BARR and your organization set expectations for your PCI engagement. Your engagement team will partner with you to:
At least three months prior to your PCI compliance report date, BARR will hold a kickoff meeting to finalize the engagement plans and ensure you’re as prepared as possible. Your organization will then respond to evidence requests that are customized to your unique CDE through BARR’s audit portal, and your engagement team conduct the testing and gathering process—including policy reviews, system evidence reviews, interviews, and observations.
Depending on your organization’s transaction amounts and customer requests, you can choose to perform a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) or a report of compliance (RoC). Your organization can complete an SAQ on your own, or you can have a QSA like BARR assist you with the process.
If you choose to perform an RoC, BARR will draft the report along with an attestation of compliance (AoC), which will be submitted to the appropriate entities for official attestation. As your trusted partner and a certified QSA, BARR serves as an official reviewer of these reports—and will give you the opportunity to review them—prior to receiving your final deliverable.
Our reporting services include:
Depending on the complexity of your CDE, achieving an RoC will take three to six months to complete.
Once your report is issued and your audit is archived, BARR will debrief with your organization, communicating process improvement opportunities (PIOs), action items for continuous management, and a pre-plan for your next engagement. Organizations should conduct PCI DSS engagements at least annually and continuously consider your customers and vendors’ requests to determine the appropriate cadence for achieving PCI DSS compliance.
Finally, BARR will help you celebrate and optimize your accomplishment, ensuring your organization is prepared to achieve future security and compliance goals.
There are multiple benefits of a PCI DSS audit, including protecting your customer data, building stakeholder trust, meeting business requirements, and avoiding fines and penalties. With BARR’s PCI DSS compliance services, you can rest assured that your organization will meet compliance requirements.
PCI DSS applies to all entities that store, process, and/or transmit cardholder data. If your organization accepts or processes payment cards, you must comply with PCI DSS. Depending on your organization’s needs, BARR’s PCI DSS compliance solutions include PCI DSS reports on compliance (RoC), PCI DSS attestations of compliance (AoC), and QSA-assisted self-assessment questionnaires (SAQs).
BARR’s attest services team has developed a proven process that makes completing a PCI DSS compliance audit simple. It begins with a planning stage, where you’ll work with our team to set expectations and determine the scope of the engagement. Next, your auditor will assess your organization’s cardholder data environment (CDE), including completing policy reviews, system evidence reviews, and interviews with your team. When the assessment period ends, you will either complete a QSA-assisted self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ), or receive a PCI DSS report on compliance (RoC) or PCI DSS attestation of compliance (AoC) from BARR on the results of the audit.
With BARR’s PCI DSS compliance solutions, our PCI DSS auditors help organizations prepare for and successfully achieve PCI DSS compliance seamlessly within three to six months, depending on the client’s needs and the PCI DSS services they are utilizing.
While PCI DSS is not a legal requirement, it is mandated by the PCI Security Standards Council. If your organization stores, processes, and/or transmits cardholder data, you are likely required to comply with PCI DSS.
With BARR’s PCI DSS compliance services, you can rest assured that your PCI DSS auditor will use their expertise to guide you through each stage of the engagement process.
PCI DSS is a set of security standards established to safeguard payment card information and prevent unauthorized access. Developed by major credit card companies, including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, the standard aims to create a secure environment for processing, storing, and transmitting cardholder data. Read our blog “Understanding PCI DSS: A Guide to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.”
Many jurisdictions require businesses to comply with PCI DSS as part of legal regulations related to data protection.
PCI DSS compliance involves three main components:
Here are the five essential steps to achieving PCI DSS compliance:
A PCI attestation of compliance (AoC) is a document used by organizations to attest to their compliance with PCI DSS. Completed alongside an RoC or SAQ, an AoC includes details about the scope and results of the compliance assessment and is typically shared with payment processors.
Organizations should conduct PCI DSS engagements at least annually.
Depending on your organization’s transaction amounts and customer requests, you may be required to complete a report on compliance (RoC) with a qualified firm like BARR, or you may be eligible to perform a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) either on your own or with assistance from a QSA. Both reports accompany an attestation of compliance (AoC), which a QSA firm like BARR can also help with. We dive into the differences in this blog post.
