True Cost of PCI Compliance: What to Expect and How to Reduce Expenses

Achieving PCI compliance ensures your business can securely process card payments, but the real cost varies widely depending on your size, systems, and risk level. Most small businesses spend well under $30,000 per year, while larger organizations may face six- or seven-figure expenses. By reducing the data you store, narrowing your compliance scope, adopting the right software tools, and keeping staff trained, you can significantly cut these costs without sacrificing security.

PCI compliance is vital for all businesses processing card transactions, but especially for small businesses, which may feel the effects of non-compliance harder than most. While complying with the PCI DSS is not legally mandated, failure to abide by its data security recommendations may put small business owners at risk of massive financial loss.

The cost of PCI compliance will always be less than what you’d pay should your cardholder data get hacked and leaked. Regardless, let’s consider why budgeting matters and how you can reduce these costs.

Why Understanding the Cost of PCI Compliance Matters

Understanding the true cost of PCI compliance for your business matters so that you can safely budget for necessary protection. Planning for the upfront, regular cost of compliance ensures your business is financially prepared to safely avoid exponentially higher costs incurred through non-compliance.

Ultimately, failure to prepare for the costs of compliance will leave you without funds to safely secure your cardholder information. That, in turn, will leave your business wide open to fines, loss of business, and data leakage.

PCI Compliance Costs Overview

There is no specific cost for PCI compliance, but smaller businesses can expect to pay less than $30,000 annually, while larger firms may spend hundreds of thousands to stay secure.

These cost scales can vary wildly. We recommend working with certified cybersecurity experts, and using SecureTrust PCI Manager, to learn more about the potential compliance costs you’ll face.

Breakdown of PCI Compliance Costs

Typical cost components of PCI compliance include audit preparation, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, remediation and upgrades, training and policy building, ongoing maintenance, and non-compliance costs (should you miss any key areas).

Here’s a quick table summary.

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Preparation, Scanning, and Testing

Preparing for an audit means bringing your security posture up to code so that you can pass compliance through a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) or an on-site assessment carried out by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).

Cost drivers include:

• Basic data encryption
• Installing antivirus and anti-malware suites
• Building out data security policies and procedures
• Network segmentation
• Running vulnerability scans
• Conducting penetration testing

Upgrades and Improvements

Should testing reveal major security gaps and vulnerabilities, you will need to pay to fix them before you engage with a QSA.

Costs include:

• Additional/ongoing employee training
• Policy development and rollout
• Legacy hardware removal and replacement
• New software upgrades/replacements (and training associated with them)

Assessment, Validation, and Maintenance

Depending on your PCI compliance level, you’ll need to file an SAQ and an Attestation of Compliance (AoC), and/or engage a QSA to complete a full independent assessment resulting in a Report on Compliance (RoC).

The full ROC assessment applies to Level 1 merchants and service providers who process millions of transactions a year.

After validation, all businesses must maintain their compliance throughout the year. For example, they should invest in regular penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and training refreshment to keep people vigilant and systems secure between assessments.

Key Factors Affecting PCI Compliance Costs

Key factors that alter PCI compliance costs include the size and type of your business, your current security posture, your annual transactions volume, any PCI personnel you have in-house, how your network is structured, and the type of auditing you require.

• Your business size and type influence how much data you store, the size of your system infrastructure, potential compliance gaps, the number of processes, and a variety of risks, therefore increasing costs.
• If you already have stringent security policies in place, you are unlikely to incur as much as you’d expect when building from scratch.
• If you have any PCI personnel in-house, you may not need as much support from external personnel, therefore reducing costs.
• The more complex and multi-faceted your network is, the more attention (and therefore money) it will demand.
• The auditing you require will depend on your compliance level, and therefore incur more costs if you need a dedicated, physical audit vs. completing a questionnaire.

Hidden Costs of PCI Non-Compliance

In addition to loss of business and processor penalties, hidden non-compliance costs can include the financial burden of a data breach, additional remediation costs, increased insurance premiums, stricter terms from potential vendors and partners, and increased transaction fees.

• IBM estimates that data breaches cost companies an average of $4.4 million per incident. Compliance failures make breaches more likely, and these costs include investigation and additional remediation costs.
• If your business suffers a hack or breach, any insurance policies you have may increase premiums or even change demands mid-policy.
• Re-signing contracts with vendors or partnering with new third parties may require more stringent terms, including extra financial security.
• Processors may increase the price you pay just to process card payments, in addition to penalties, until you can prove compliance. It’s estimated most processors will charge at least $25,000 in fines depending on card types.

How to Reduce PCI Compliance Costs

You can reduce PCI compliance costs by reducing the amount of data you hold, reducing your systems/infrastructure scope, using professional software, outsourcing payment handling, and regularly retraining your employees.

1. Reduce Cardholder Data Stored

You are not legally required to hold cardholder data. Unless it makes payment handling significantly more efficient, consider reducing the data you hold to reduce compliance costs. The less data you hold, the less need there will be for scrutiny and extensive protection measures.

2. Reduce Scope

The more complex and extensive an infrastructure, the more effort and insight will be required to bring your business up to compliant code. Where possible, remove legacy systems and simplify your network so it’s easier to trace and account for the data you hold.

3. Use Professional Software

Using software like SecureTrust PCI Manager can help you keep track of your cardholder data points and remove the need to engage external security teams. Using a suite designed specifically to manage PCI gives you complete control over what to expect from compliance.

4. Outsource Payment Handling

Many businesses don’t even handle payments on-site. Some smaller firms and entrepreneurs may, for example, engage with service providers which handle card payments and are responsible all PCI compliance checks. Others may simply outsource to experts based close by or offshore.

Research claims that eight in ten small firms are open to outsourcing, with payroll falling under this umbrella.

5. Regularly Retrain Your Employees

Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shows that the majority of breaches include a human element:

“As we leave our past behind and embrace a new era with slightly more precise calculations, we see the human involvement in breaches at 60% this year (...)”

Verizon

Regularly training employees on cybersecurity basics can be enough to help stave off costly and damaging data breaches. Training also helps staff understand security accountability for certain business areas, therefore reducing maintenance costs.

How Much Should Small Businesses Budget for PCI Compliance?

Most small businesses can expect to budget between $1,000 and $10,000 per year for PCI compliance, depending on their environment, card volume, and security needs. More complex setups and businesses with multiple payment acceptance channels, outdated systems, or extensive remediation needs may see costs rise toward the higher end of the range.

A cost-effective starting point for most small businesses is the SecureTrust PCI Manager, which streamlines the entire self-assessment and validation process for $40 per month ($480 per year) and includes:

• Guided SAQs
• External vulnerability scanning
• Instant Attestation of Compliance (Aoc)
• 24/7 live support

Below is a breakdown of common PCI compliance cost components and what small businesses typically spend on each.

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The cost of PCI compliance is a small demand compared to the unlimited financial chaos that your business could face if cardholder data is found to be unsecure. Even more so, in fact, should you be attacked and sensitive information leaks into the wrong hands.

A great first step to better control and reduce PCI costs is to invest in SecureTrust PCI Manager, and to start bringing your sensitive data points together for a clearer, more concise picture.