PCI DSS Cost: How Much Does it Cost to Be PCI Compliant?

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was established to protect cardholder data and ensure secure payment processes. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, PCI compliance is essential for protecting your customers, safeguarding your reputation, and avoiding costly penalties for data breaches. But how much does it cost to be PCI compliant?

The cost of PCI compliance varies significantly depending on your organization’s size, transaction volume, and existing infrastructure. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, understanding the factors that influence compliance costs is crucial to budgeting effectively and protecting your customers. Let’s take a look at the factors affecting PCI compliance costs and what you can expect to spend on achieving and maintaining compliance.

PCI compliance is a global standard that is mandatory for businesses that accept credit card payments. It is a requirement for maintaining trust with customers and avoiding significant financial and reputational risks. The standard is enforced by the PCI Security Standards Council, which includes representatives from major card brands like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

The process of achieving PCI compliance can seem daunting, but it’s critical for protecting against security breaches. Becoming PCI compliant involves meeting a specific set of security requirements, which include managing sensitive data, ensuring strong encryption, and maintaining a secure network. If you need more details, you can find out how to become PCI compliant on our blog.

Compliance involves implementing 12 key security requirements that cover data encryption, network security, access control, and more. The cost to achieve PCI compliance can vary quite dramatically depending on the size of the business and other factors. Part of the PCI compliance process also means that businesses must determine their PCI compliance level, which is based on their transaction volume. Let’s explore how these variables impact your overall compliance cost.

The cost of PCI compliance largely depends on your business’s PCI DSS level, which is determined by the number of payment card transactions processed annually.

• Level 1: Merchants processing over 6 million transactions annually require the most rigorous and expensive compliance efforts, including onsite audits by Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs).
• Level 2: Merchants processing between 1–6 million transactions annually face lower costs but may still require an external audit.
• Level 3: Merchants processing 20,000–1 million ecommerce transactions per year primarily rely on Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs).
• Level 4: Merchants processing fewer than 20,000 ecommerce transactions annually can self-validate compliance using simpler procedures.

For more detailed insights on PCI levels, check out this guide.

Your PCI level determines how extensive your compliance requirements are, with Level 1 merchants incurring the highest costs and most rigorous requirements. All merchants must invest in compliance tools, training, and security upgrades to meet PCI standards.

Achieving PCI compliance requires an upfront investment in preparation and implementation. Below are the key cost areas and what they typically entail:

Employee Training

PCI compliance starts with ensuring your team understands the importance of security best practices. This includes training employees to recognize and prevent risks like phishing and weak password usage.

Average Cost: $500–$5,000 annually, depending on company size and training scope. It can also be thought of as $50 to $100 per employee annually.

Vulnerability Scans

Regular vulnerability scans, as often as quarterly, are required to identify weaknesses in your network and systems that could be exploited by attackers.

Average Cost: $100–$1,000 per scan or $100 to $200 per IP address.

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing simulates cyberattacks to identify vulnerabilities that vulnerability scans might miss. It’s often required for higher PCI levels.

Average Cost: $5,000–$30,000 per test.

Remediation

If vulnerabilities are discovered during scans or tests, remediation efforts will be needed to fix them. This might involve upgrading software, replacing hardware, or reconfiguring systems, and remediation costs can be one of the most significant variables in compliance costs.

Average Cost: $500–$15,000, depending on the scope of fixes.

Data Encryption

Encrypting sensitive cardholder data ensures it cannot be accessed by unauthorized parties, even if systems are breached.

Average Cost: $500–$5,000 for implementation, plus ongoing costs for maintenance.

Network Security

Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure network configurations are essential for PCI compliance and protecting cardholder data.

Average Cost: $2,000–$20,000 annually depending on network complexity.

Policy Development

Developing internal policies and procedures for handling sensitive data is required to maintain compliance.

Average Cost: $1,000–$10,000 for initial policy creation and updates, depending on the depth of documentation needed.

PCI Audits

Level 1 merchants and some Level 2 merchants must undergo an annual PCI audit conducted by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). These costs can include the QSA fees and personnel costs to gather evidence and remediate audit findings that result from the on-site audit. 

Average Cost: $15,000–$50,000 per audit.

In addition to preparation and implementation costs, businesses must also consider the certification costs required to validate their PCI compliance. Validation of compliance involves either self-assessment or external audits, depending on your PCI level.

Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)

Merchants at Levels 2–4 can complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) to certify their compliance.

Average Cost: Free to $1,000, depending on whether external assistance is required.

Qualified Security Assessor (QSA)

Level 1 merchants and some Level 2 merchants must hire a QSA to conduct a detailed assessment of their compliance to issue a Report on Compliance (ROC).

Average Cost: $15,000–$100,000, depending on business size and complexity.

While PCI compliance can involve significant costs, the price of non-compliance is far greater. Businesses that fail to meet PCI standards may face:

• Fines or penalties ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 per month for non-compliance.
• Liability for data breaches, covering fines, lawsuits, and compensating affected customers, which can result in millions of dollars in damages.
• Loss of customer trust and damage to the business’s reputation.

Visit our blog for more details on the consequences of PCI non-compliance.

Navigating the complexities of PCI compliance can be challenging, but IXOPAY offers solutions to simplify the process. By partnering with IXOPAY, you can offload the burden of PCI compliance while saving time and money.

Our solutions include tokenization, secure data storage, and compliance automation to help you meet PCI requirements without unnecessary stress. Ready to get started? Check out our PCI Compliance Checklist or contact us today.

Achieving PCI compliance is an investment in your business’s security, reputation, and future success. While the costs can vary, ensuring compliance now will save you from much greater expenses down the road. Partner with IXOPAY to make your compliance journey smooth and cost-effective.