Is my PCI compliance management hurting my merchant portfolio? How SecurityMetrics makes switching your Acquirer PCI program easy

The Problem with PCI Compliance Management

If you’re reading this, unfortunately, it likely means that your current PCI program has left you feeling frustrated, stuck, or otherwise unhappy. Fortunately, there are more reliable and robust options out there that will meet your needs and solve your PCI problems.

There’s no need to put up with a PCI program that isn’t meeting your expectations. In this blog, we’ll show you when and why you should consider switching to a new PCI program that does the heavy lifting so you can provide your merchants with a PCI experience designed around their satisfaction, even if you are currently under contract.

Make sure to keep reading if you are dealing with:

• Merchants frustrated with their PCI validation process
• Massive jumps in program renewal costs
• A chaotic PCI program experience
• Too many challenges to keep your portfolio happy

And you want to change but feel that you can’t because:

• You’re in a current contract and have to keep a number of mids with current vendor
• You don’t think you have time to switch before your renewal
• You feel like it would be a lot of work to make the switch
• You think it will cost a lot of money to use multiple vendors

You can still make the switch to a better program now with less effort than you think. Let's explore some common questions businesses and merchants are asking themselves when looking at their current PCI program, and help you decide what you should do!

Is my PCI program helping or hurting my business?

This isn’t always an easy question to answer or come to terms with, especially if you’re in the middle of a contract with a PCI program. However, there are a few simple questions to consider that can help you quickly determine if you’re with a program that’s helping or hindering you.

• What is your support experience like?
• Do they have knowledgeable customer service representatives and experts that can help you address your unique needs specifically to your business?
• Have your merchants expressed frustration with their PCI validation process? (Since validation is an ongoing process merchants have to regularly deal with and address, this is an important one.)
• Has your PCI program ever pumped up its program renewal prices and left you paying more for the same amount of services and resources?
• Has your experience been chaotic or uneven, either from their requirements, systems, and limitations or simply because they lack resources and support? (This includes making excuses for them to your merchants to try and keep them happy because it feels like it would be too difficult to switch.)

If you answered yes or even maybe to at least one of these, the short answer may be that, yes, your current PCI program might be hurting your business.

The good news is that you don’t have to suffer indefinitely and you don’t have to feel trapped by contracts or your business being tied up elsewhere. There is a way to have your PCI cake and eat it too.

How do I switch to a new PCI program?

A lot of the time, your current PCI program will make you feel like you are unable to switch, due to contracts or the fact that you have so much of your business tied up in their system. However, switching to a reliable and flexible partner is a lot simpler than you might think.

How to switch comes down to what kind of level you are at: partner or merchant. But rest assured, there are options for you either way. Here is a quick overview of how to switch to a better PCI program like SecurityMetrics at each level.

Partner Level

Once agreements are signed:

• We import your data using one of two methods: API or CSV
  • With SecurityMetrics’ API, our team will work with your team to identify the endpoints of your record system that will be included in the data feed. This takes less than 2 hours typically and doesn’t need to be repeated.
  • The CSV upload route requires a new report to be sent monthly, resulting in around an hour a month effort.
• You are partnered with your SecurityMetrics Customer Success Manager so they can learn how we can customize your program experience and merchant portal to better achieve the goals of your program. This can move as fast as you have time for, but typically is completed in a few weeks.

Merchant Level

For your merchants, their transition is also simple:

• Their pre-existing compliance data will be added to our system from the API or CSV upload.
• When their current validation is about to expire, they will be notified via email guiding them to the SecurityMetrics PCI Solution.
• If you’ve included it in your program, merchants will at this point spend a few minutes filling out FastPass. The time-saving tool that auto-populates many SAQ questions for your merchants so they spend less time on their validation.
• Then they will be directed to their SAQ portal where they have access to SecurityMetrics’ award-winning support team to help them achieve recertification.

What if I’m already in a PCI program?

Frustrated merchants won’t care that you’re stuck in a contract if their experience is poor.

So before they start shopping for a new acquirer, we can help you offer relief to your portfolio.

We can set up your program with SecurityMetrics at any time, and then only transition your new merchants as well as your other merchants when they come up for recertification.

This way you maintain enough merchants with your current vendor to not violate your contract, but you begin transitioning your portfolio to the merchant-friendly program, lowering attrition rates.

Then when your previous contract is coming to a close, we’ve already got your program set up and all you have to do is say goodbye to your bad PCI program.

The best thing to do is to talk to a consultant now and learn how you can offer relief to merchants sooner than expected. 

Is switching worth it?

To answer this question, let’s look at the benefits.

With a better PCI program like SecurityMetrics, you’d be getting more available and knowledgeable customer support, more PCI resources, less third-party confusion, better expertise, stable program pricing, a streamlined validation process, and over 20 years of PCI experience.

With all that in mind, the most important question you should ask yourself about switching isn’t “Is it worth it?” but rather, “Can I afford not to?” Aside from all the listed benefits involved in switching to a better PCI program, the scary truth is that if you don’t switch from a problematic or flawed program, your merchants may switch from you.

Making the switch

It can often feel like an immense task to migrate your PCI compliance details and resources elsewhere, but having a partner that has your back is very much worth it in the long run.

It’s not just about getting out of a bad program, but you’re switching to the PCI program that has been designed to help merchants reach compliance with as little frustration as possible.

When you partner with SecurityMetrics, you can offer your merchants:

• SecurityMetrics FastPass, the tool that can help reduce the number of questions merchants have to manually answer by up to 81%. depending on their SAQ type.
• 24/7 Chat and Call support for account issues, as well as 24/7 tech support for SAQ and scans. Get help from real humans, fast.
• A vendor that can offer a full-range of security solutions required to reach compliance while increasing your program revenue.
• An updated portal that covers the changes to PCI DSS v4.0.

Increase your merchant satisfaction rates and get time back that you’re currently using to deal with the headaches of your existing program.

Conclusion

It can certainly seem intimidating and difficult to make the leap away from the PCI program if you’ve been with them for a while and set up your whole business with them.

But on the other side of that tough choice lies countless benefits that can scale with your company, be available when you need them, and most importantly give your piece of mind. Your business is worth it and your future self will thank you for the saved time and money.

If you're ready to make the switch or just want to explore what PCI offerings SecurityMetrics has, chat with our PCI expert, Robbi, to get started. We will help and guide you every step of the way.