by Susan Schaefer
Friday May 08, 2015

All travel agencies are required to be PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant, yet most believe that because they do not charge the credit cards themselves, they are exempt. They are not. Let’s talk about what PCI compliance is, and why all agencies are required to be complaint even when they don’t charge credit cards themselves, and some steps you can take to ensure your agency is PCI compliant.

“The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. PCI applies to all organizations or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, transmits or stores any cardholder data. ” As travel agents accepting, storing…

If you are over the age of 35 and happen to have children, nephews, or neighbors over the age of 10, you know exactly what I am about to say. Young people seem to “know” just about everything. This trait, I am sad to say, is not limited to just young people. For my money, there are too many adults who seem to “know” everything they need to know.

But knowing and doing are two entirely different…