At Gather, we’re problem solvers, not problem seekers. As we continue to drive innovation in the event management space, it’s important for us to keep up with new and evolving regulations so we can offer a secure and trustworthy product.

With security becoming an increasingly hot topic, we thought it’d be useful to revisit PCI standards and compliance, and how that can affect your business. The concept is pretty technical, but don’t worry — we’re going to get through it together.

What is PCI compliance?

The Payment Card Industry Standards Security Council was founded in late 2006 by the five major payment brands: American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard and Visa. To ensure all companies accept, transact or store credit card information securely, they established Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), or ‘PCI’ for short.

PCI rules and regulations are always evolving, but it’s up to each business to stay compliant and maintain a secure payment processing environment. Penalties for non-compliance can range from $5,000 to $100,000 per month (ouch!) depending on the level and severity of the violation. For more of the nitty-gritty, see the PCI Compliance Guide’s FAQ.

How do I ensure my business is compliant?

PCI compliance is important. So, how can you make sure your business is processing payments and storing cardholder information securely? The answer is complicated. Most businesses don’t manage it themselves, but it’s something that needs to be addressed. You wouldn’t ignore ServSafe certification, would you? Be sure to treat PCI compliance the same way!

A smart business typically manages payments through a third-party processor or gateway because they’re experts in that space. You may have heard of big names like Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net — there are actually tons of companies out there who offer this service.

Gather gives you options

Here’s the good news: Gather has a universal payment processor integration, which means we work with everyone mentioned above, plus a lot more. There are over 50 merchant processors we integrate with today, and that number is always growing!

We offer you more options for taking event payments securely than any other software out there. With this added flexibility, you can typically avoid additional costs and stick with your existing merchant processor. Plain and simple, we’re here to make your life easier.

Why Gather is the most secure option for PCI compliance

We take online payments and PCI compliance seriously. Because of this, we invest in the highest level of security for you and, in turn, your guests. Each year, Gather manages more than $1 billion in event sales, and a growing number of our clients are safely securing card information and processing payments in PCI-compliant cloud gateways. We will continually focus on providing robust payment integrations and enhanced card-not-present transaction security.

These efforts include advancing our annually-audited PCI compliance and security best practices, upgrading to PCI Level 1 Compliance in 2018, and expanding our list of supported gateways and merchant processors.

If you’re not currently using Gather Payments or taking advantage of our payments integrations, we’d love to share more information and help you consider if it’s the right move for your business. For more information on PCI compliance and how Gather can help, click here.

Lisa Lotyczewski
Product Marketing Manager

Lisa is the Product Marketing Manager at Gather. She works to foster community and educate users about our innovative product, helping showcase how Gather is changing the way people think about events.