PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

If you are a planning to accept credit card payments on or through your website, you must now be PCI DSS Compliant. There are no exceptions.

Studio 457 does not provide PCI DSS compliant hosting on our “shared” servers, which include ALL of our hosting packages unless otherwise specifically noted.

We do not recommend or allow our clients, to collect, transmit and or store credit card data within a “shared” server environment. When you sign up for a hosting account with Studio 457 you hereby acknowledge your understanding of these terms.

If you are an individual or small business with low to medium credit card transactions, we recommend using a third party provider such as PayPal who maintains a PCI DSS compliant backbone for you. PayPal offers an excellent service and takes away all the worry of handling credit cards securely.

If you currently have or are planning to acquire a merchant account (MID) then you need to be on a “dedicated” server within a PCI Compliant network. Studio 457 can provide you with a referral to an affordable - fully managed PCI Compliant eCommerce solution. Contact Us for more information.

PCI Security Standards Home Page:
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/index.shtml

A copy of the PCI DSS text is available here.

The best place to go for answers is directly to the bank or credit card institution that handles your merchant account. They are the ones ultimately responsible for enforcing the PCI standards.

The fines for non-compliance can be enormous, so please be sure you understand these new standards and how they apply to you as a merchant. Thank you.