PCI compliance is essential for any online store. If you’re using Adobe Commerce (Magento) for your store, this is a great start – as a Level 1 Solution Provider, Adobe Commerce helps you comply with PCI/DSS standards.
But that’s only part of the puzzle. You’ll also need to consider your payment gateway – the processing company that handles online payments for your business. By working with a PCI-compliant payment gateway and using Adobe Commerce, you’ll dramatically simplify the process of PCI compliance.
In this blog from 121eCommerce, we’ll talk about the basics of PCI compliance, why it matters, how payment gateways protect your store from data loss and ensure PCI compliance and more. Read on to see how Adobe Commerce and payment gateways ensure you meet Payment Card Industry standards.
→ Related: 7 Most Common FAQ’s About Adobe Commerce (Magento) Payment Gateways ←
What Is PCI Compliance And Why Does It Matter?
It’s important to discuss what PCI is – and what it isn’t. First, you should note that PCI is not a law! PCI/DSS (Payment Card Information/Data Security Standards) are not part of any legal code – not in the US, and not anywhere else.
Instead, these are standards developed by payment card companies like MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and JCB. The PCI Security Standards Council (SSC) grew out of the individual security efforts of these companies, and was formed in 2006.
However, just because they are not part of the law doesn’t mean PCI standards don’t matter. Failing to properly protect customer data under PCI/DSS guidelines can lead to heavy fines from payment processors – and legal action from customers whose data is stolen.
That’s why PCI compliance is so important. PCI/DSS is a set of standards outlining how merchants and payment processors are supposed to store, use, and protect customer payment information. It covers a wide variety of requirements, from physical security to cybersecurity, employee conduct and more.
By maintaining proper PCI compliance, you avoid fines and other penalties from credit card companies and banks. But more importantly, you’ll know you’re doing everything you can to keep your customer’s data safe. That’s really critical since a major data breach can be catastrophic for your brand image, and lead to permanent loss of trust.
How Do Payment Gateways Help With PCI Compliance?
So, we’ve discussed the basics of PCI compliance and its importance. But how do payment gateways come into the picture? How do they help with Adobe Commerce PCI compliance?
The answer is simple. Payment gateways process customer credit and debit card payments for you – which means this data is kept completely separate from your Adobe Commerce servers and is never saved on your store at all.
The entire payment process is outsourced to a company like Braintree, PayPal, or Authorize.net. The data is processed, stored, and transmitted securely through extremely secure networks that have been built for excellent security from the ground up.
Because of this, payment gateways dramatically simplify PCI compliance. If you store customer credit card data on your website, you will be subjected to much more strict PCI standards – standards that are nearly impossible for most entrepreneurs to meet.
But by using a third-party payment gateway, you don’t have to worry about that. In fact, you’ll never interact with customer credit card information directly at all! You can also use your payment gateway’s PCI compliance to your benefit. If you’re working with a PCI-compliant payment gateway, that PCI compliance helps your own business meet PCI/DSS standards.
In other words, using Adobe Commerce and a third-party payment gateway together means that it will be a lot simpler to check for PCI compliance – and you’ll be able to lock down customer data and ensure it’s not stolen or breached.
Not sure which payment gateway to choose? Here’s a comparison of Adobe Commerce (Magento) default payment gateways
Does It Matter Which Adobe Commerce (Magento) Payment Gateway I Use?
As far as PCI compliance goes, the answer is “no.” The default Adobe Commerce payment gateways – Braintree, PayPal, and Authorize.net – are all fully PCI-compliant. And other non-default payment gateways like Stripe and Square are also PCI-compliant.
If all you’re worried about is PCI/DSS standards, then it doesn’t matter which payment gateway you use, as long as it is PCI compliant – which is pretty much guaranteed for any widely-used service.
However, this is not to say that it doesn’t matter which payment gateway you choose. They all have different fees, features, fraud protection measures, and support for different countries and currencies. All of these things may factor into which Adobe Commerce payment gateway you choose.
→ Related: 8 Things To Consider Before Choosing An Adobe Commerce Payment Gateway ←
Need Help Building A PCI-Compliant Adobe Commerce (Magento) Store? Contact Us Today!
At 121eCommerce, we’re Adobe Commerce experts. Whether you need help building a new eCommerce store from the ground up using Adobe Commerce, or you just need help implementing a payment gateway and ensuring PCI compliance, our team is standing by to assist you.
To learn more about our capabilities and see how we can help your project succeed, contact us online for a consultation.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.