We are pleased to announce that CEL Transact, the managing division of Clearing House is now PCI compliant.

CEL Transact has become PCI compliant to support the new software release of their Uni-Pay product, that now includes the ability to make credit card transactions.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Companies that offer credit card payment capability are pushing hard to stop the financial fraud incidents that have affected numerous organisations and their consumers.

Consequently, organisations that accept payment card transactions are

duly bound to comply to the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

The PCI DSS must be met by all organisations (merchants and service providers) that transmit, process or store payment card data. The PCI DSS (sometimes referred to as a compliance standard) is not a law. It is a contractual obligation applied and enforced - by means of fines or other restrictions - directly by the payment providers themselves.

PCI DSS compliance requirements

The Standard basically requires merchants and member service providers (MSPs) who store, process or transmit cardholder data to:

•    Build and maintain a secure IT network

•    Protect cardholder data

•    Maintain a vulnerability management program

•    Implement strong access control measures

•    Regularly monitor and test networks

•    Maintain an information security policy

Organisations that fail to comply, risk not being allowed to handle cardholder data and huge fines if the data is lost or stolen.