All merchants must demonstrate to Forte that they have fulfilled their PCI obligations or they will face a monthly non-compliance charge of $29.99. They must take one of the following options prior to receiving their first invoice.

There are three options for Merchants to fulfill their PCI obligation to Forte.

1. Use the Qualified Security Assessor contracted by Forte, Aperia. An additional fee of $7.99/month applies. Merchants can opt in by notifying customer service that they would like to enroll in the program.

2. Use a different Qualified Security Assessor. Merchants will need to provide Forte with an acceptable “certificate of compliance”, updated at least annually, to avoid non-compliance fees.

3. Self-Assess. Merchants will need to file an Attestation of Compliance (AOC) and Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) with Forte, both updated at least annually, to avoid non-compliance fees.

Merchants should be directed to www.pcisecuritystandards.org to find out which Self-Assessment Questionnaire and Attestation of Compliance (SAQ) is applicable to them. Once they have completed the SAQ and AOC, they will need to be sent to pci@forte.net. Both the SAQ and AOC must contain their merchant I.D. If the merchant is using Forte’s Global Platform, they also need to include their credit card processing merchant I.D. This number is typically 13 digits and can be located at the top of the Global Payments merchant statement.

For more information on PCI Compliance:
Visit the official website: www.pcisecuritystandards.org
Why it’s important: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pci_security/why_security_matters
Best Practices for Maintaining PCI DSS Compliance • January 2019: Search for document at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/document_library
Visit our PCI page: www.forte.net/pci
Read our Blog: https://www.forte.net/blog/pci-compliance/

Effective 2020, the National Automated Clearing House Association, also referred to as NACHA, is requiring an annual audit to ensure best practices are used to protect the security of financial information. This audit focuses on web debit transaction origination and customer bank information security, specifically for ACH transactions.  To comply with this requirement, CSG Forte will send merchants notification each year requesting the audit be completed.

Learn more about NACHA’s Web Debit Security Audit requirements: https://support.forte.net/support/solutions/articles/11000104882-2021-debit-web-security-audit-merchant-faqs