PCI DSS Certification Cost: Estimating The Accurate Expense

‍Misallocating the budget for PCI DSS compliance is quite common! It often happens because organizations aren't fully aware of all the expenses tied to the certification process. As a result, they get caught off guard by unexpected expenses midway through the journey. So, to help you avoid such situations, in this article, we have explained what's involved in PCI DSS certification cost in detail.

Any organization that manages, stores, and processes customer payment data (or cardholder data/card transaction data) is legally bound to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). So, if you are one of such organizations, you must also comply with PCI DSS – it's non-negotiable. But you need to understand that achieving PCI DSS compliance isn't free! It comes with its own set of costs. What is that cost? Let's find out.

But before we understand how much it will cost to achieve PCI DSS compliance, you need to familiarize yourself with the factors that can influence the PCI DSS certification cost. 

Factors Influencing PCI DSS Certification Cost

Listed below are a few factors that can influence the cost of PCI DSS certification:

1: Size Of Business

Large organizations generally tend to manage, store, or process huge volumes of cardholder data (CHD), due to which they have to invest in – advanced tools to manage their extensive database (such software usually comes with a big price tag), large storage setup, skilled workforce, and also have to set up multiple layers of security (which is expensive). As a result, they end up incurring high PCI DSS certification cost. 

Small organizations, such as sole proprietorships, handle much smaller volumes of CHD, which means their requirements are far less demanding than those of an enterprise. As a result, they incur significantly lower PCI DSS certification cost.

2: Type Of Business

Your business type can greatly influence the cost of the PCI DSS certification. For example, e-commerce businesses (which have online operations) must implement different cyber security measures like antivirus, firewalls, and encryption to protect CHD from cyberattacks, which drive up their costs.

Meanwhile, small retail stores (which have offline operations) process in-person payments so they encounter fewer cyberattacks. They simply have to implement physical security measures to safeguard CHD from theft and damage, which is why their PCI DSS certification cost are comparatively lower.

3: Security Setup

Organizations that already have an established and effective security setup won’t incur additional preparation costs to meet PCI compliance requirements.

However, those starting from scratch (without a security setup yet) will incur significantly higher preparation PCI DSS certification cost. They must implement all the essential security measures, such as antivirus programs, firewalls, and other security solutions, to create a solid foundation, and only they will be able to meet PCI DSS requirements.

4: Merchant Level Category

Merchants are basically entities (in simple terms, businesses) that directly accept card payments from customers in exchange for goods or services.

Note: Customers can use credit or debit card brands like American Express, MasterCard, Discover, Visa, or JCB to make payments for goods or services.

However, organizations that handle, store, and process cardholder payment data on behalf of other organizations are considered ‘service providers’—not merchants.

Now, there are 4 merchant levels, and the level your organization falls into greatly influences your PCI DSS certification cost. Like –

• Level 1 merchants are organizations that process over 6 million transactions per year, and they incur the highest PCI DSS certification cost.
• Level 2 merchants are organizations that process 1 million to 6 million transactions annually. They incur a high PCI DSS certification cost (but comparatively lower than the Level 1 merchant category).
• Level 3 merchants are organizations that process 20,000 to 1 million transactions per year and incur low PCI DSS certification cost.
• Level 4 merchants are organizations that process less than 20,000 transactions per year, and they incur the lowest PCI DSS certification cost.

Now that you are familiar with the factors, let’s quickly find out how much, on average, you, as an organization, can expect to pay for PCI DSS certification.

Average PCI DSS Certification Cost A Business Can Expect To Incur

On average, large organizations/enterprises that process over 6 million transactions a year can expect to incur between $50,000 and $200,000 to get a RoC (report on compliance). On the other hand, small organizations that process less than 1 million transactions annually typically incur PCI DSS certification costs ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

You may ask, ‘What types of costs are included in the PCI DSS certification cost?’

To give a clearer picture, we have listed all the expenses included in the PCI DSS certification cost.

Detailed Breakdown Of PCI DSS Certification Cost 

Below, we have sorted out all the major expenses contributing to the PCI DSS certification cost.

1: Preparation costs/ Implementation cost

Preparation costs are expenses incurred by the organization during the ‘initial stage’ of the PCI DSS compliance journey. Basically, you will incur this PCI DSS certification cost while preparing your security setup to meet the mandatory requirements set forth by PCI DSS. These expenses include –

• Network Security Setup Cost

PCI DSS mandates organizations to implement a set of network security measures like — firewalls, intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, DDoS protection setups, unauthorized access detection systems, and more – to protect cardholder data from cyber threats. So, if you decide to implement these network security systems, you can expect to spend approximately $2,000 to $5,000 annually (for basic and advanced features, you have to pay more).

In addition, hiring an external expert to manage and monitor these systems will increase your expenses by another $2,400 per year. 

• Data Encryption Cost

PCI DSS compliance also mandates organizations to encrypt (make data unreadable for attackers) cardholder data to ensure its safety. So, to fulfill this requirement, you can either train your internal security team to encrypt CHD or opt for an encryption tool that will cost you around $120 - $1188 annually.

• Antivirus Software Cost

You also need to implement antivirus software like Norton and Kaspersky (which are generally used by most organizations) to secure your cardholder data. These software programs cost around $100 to $180 for a yearly subscription.

• Employee Training Cost

It's important to conduct annual training to ensure that your security team—which includes employees who handle CHD, developers who configure systems to detect vulnerabilities, and groups that respond to security incidents—stays up-to-date on the latest security threats and practices. This activity will cost around $20 to $30 per employee annually.

• Security Policy Development Cost (Additional)

You have to create an InfoSec policy to ensure everyone in the security and compliance team is well aware of their roles and responsibilities, which mandatory practices to follow, and which ones to avoid. Now, you can create the policy on your own with the help of your security/IT team, or you can choose to buy a pre-designed policy templates package that will cost around $1,000.

2: Vulnerability Scans Cost

To protect cardholder data from malicious attacks, it’s important to effectively identify and address vulnerabilities in your security systems. These vulnerabilities can include firewall misconfiguration, the use of outdated anti-virus software, or other hidden weaknesses that are not easily detectable. To uncover these weaknesses in your security setup, you must thoroughly perform vulnerability scans.

You can either perform this scan internally (allocate a dedicated team to do so) or get it done through a PCI DSS-approved scanning vendor (ASV), which will cost you up to $200 per IP yearly.

Also Read: Top 14 Vulnerability Scanning Tools in 2024

3: Penetration Testing Cost

Penetration test (pen testing) is a mock/intentional attack done by ethical hackers (hired by organizations) to identify risks or weaknesses in security systems that real hackers can exploit to compromise CHD. What’s best about pen tests is that – they find gaps that are missed out/overlooked by scanning tools.

However, not all organizations have to perform pen tests; it is only mandatory for organizations that are required to submit these reports – RoC, SAQ C, SAQ D, SAQ C-VT, SAQ A-EP, and SAQ B-IP.

So, if your organization is required to submit the above reports, you will have to hire an ethical hacker for pen testing, which will cost around $3,000 to $30,000 (depending on your business size).

4: PCI DSS Audit Cost

Create the same image just replace the ‘PCI DSS” mentioned in the image with — “ PCI DSS Audit Cost”

The PCI compliance audit cost depends on your organization's PCI compliance level (merchant levels). For instance –

• Small organizations (merchant level 4) are required to fill a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ). This questionnaire has a series of questions, such as what security standards or practices are in place, how remediation actions are performed, what tools have been opted for, and a few others. 

After completing the SAQ, they must submit it to an officially authorized PCI DSS auditor to obtain the certificate. This entire process costs around $5,000 to $20,000 annually.

• Large organizations (merchant level 1 or 2) must present a report on compliance (RoC) to obtain PCI DSS certification. 

To get this report, they need to hire a qualified security assessor (QSA). The QSA conducts a detailed audit of the organization's security setup, and if everything is found to be fine (which means the security setup is effective in securing CHD), they provide the organization with RoC. This entire audit process costs around $35,000 to $200,000 annually. 

Note: The PCI DSS compliance certificate is valid for one year, meaning you must renew it every year and bear recurring audit costs.

5: PCI Compliance Fee Of Card Processing Providers (Additional)

If you opt for a card processing provider (third-party vendor who handles CHD on your behalf), you will incur an additional annual fee of $70 to $120 (this fee is not included in their services price). Generally, most card processing providers charge this amount to recover their PCI DSS compliance-related expenses. 

Note: Before engaging with any vendor, conduct a thorough vendor risk assessment.

How To Calculate PCI DSS Certification Cost?

To get a rough estimation of how much you can expect to pay for PCI DSS certification, you can simply add up all the abovementioned expenses, i.e., –

PCI DSS Certification Cost = Preparation Cost + Vulnerability Scan Cost + Penetration Testing Cost + PCI DSS Audit Cost + Card Processing Providers PCI Compliance Fee

Therefore, PCI DSS Certification Cost = ($2,000 + $2,400 + $120 + $ 100 + $20 + $ 1,000) + $200 + $3,000 + $5,000 + $70

So, the total PCI compliance costs will be = $13,910

Note: The amounts listed are the minimum estimates for each expense, and this is just an example to help you understand how to calculate the total PCI DSS certification cost.

Now, you may have many opinions and questions, like, "This is too expensive! Why would one care to spend so much just for a one-year valid compliance certification? "What if I just skip it? "

Well, here’s the thing: If your organization manages, stores, or processes cardholder data (no matter directly or indirectly), you have to comply with PCI DSS compliance – no expectations. And if you choose not to, then you may end up paying way more than getting certified in the first place. How? Read on to find out.

How Much PCI Non-Compliance Can Cost You?

If you decide not to comply with PCI DSS compliance regulations, you must pay a non-compliance penalty. In fact, this penalty fee will continue to increase over time. This means that the longer you choose to stay non-compliant, the more penalty fees you’ll pay. To provide you with more clarity, here’s a table to show how much you can expect to pay as a penalty fee for non-compliance, along with the duration.

Organization Size

Period Of PCI DSS Non-Compliance 

PCI Non-Compliance Fee

Large Organization (Level 1 merchants processing over 6 million transactions annually)

1 to 3 months 

$10,000

4 to 6 months

$50,000

7 plus months

$100,000

Small To Mid Organization (Level 3 to 4 merchants processing around less than 20,000 to 1 million transactions annually) 

1 to 3 months

$5,000

4 to 6 months

$25,000

7 plus months

$50,000

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However, penalties are not the only costs associated with failing to comply with PCI requirements—there are many more!

The True Cost of Turning a Blind Eye to Compliance

When you don’t fulfill the mandatory security measures set forth by PCI DSS, you put your cardholder data at serious risk of breaches. And in case a breach occurs! Then, just brace yourself because it will severely drain your financial budget. How? You have to bear the recovery costs, remediation costs, and rebuilding your systems costs — basically, you will have to reset everything from scratch again. 

However, the damage does not stop here. When an organization falls victim to a breach, its reputation also gets severely impacted. Everyone, including stakeholders, partners, and clients, views such organizations as incapable of protecting sensitive data. In fact, for this very reason, existing partners start losing their trust, and potential new partners might avoid getting involved with such businesses in the first place.

In short, non-compliance goes far beyond penalties—it comes with severe consequences that no organization can withstand. So, it is better to bear the PCI DSS certification cost rather than going through all this hassle. 

However, we understand that getting PCI DSS certification can be expensive, so you can look for areas where you can cut costs. Read on for more clarity.

Reduce Unnecessary Costs To Keep PCI DSS Certification Cost Manageable

For instance, you can leverage tools like Zluri to automate the process instead of hiring an external auditor to conduct access reviews. 

Zluri offers an 'access review solution’ that enables your team to set up custom triggers, such as defining which apps require review (specify the ones that hold CHD), evaluating which specific type of users needs to be evaluated, and outlining actions to be taken to address anomalies in users' access rights.

Once configured, Zluri's access review automatically performs an in-depth review of user access permissions and executes remediation actions when access misalignments are identified. What's more, it even generates a detailed UAR report after audit completion, detailing its actions to ensure that only authorized users hold access to CHD. Also, the best part is that you can even present this report as proof of evidence directly to the official PCI DSS auditor and demonstrate your organization's commitment to safeguarding CHD.

Also, just think about it—since the PCI certificate is only valid for a year, opting for a subscription-based tool is a more economical and feasible choice than bearing the high recurring costs of hiring an auditor.

Basically, you can find areas and opportunities where you can cut. All you need to do is analyze your setup to identify unnecessary expenses and leverage your existing resources to meet security requirements. Doing so lets you keep your PCI DSS certification cost well within your budget.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which PCI DSS Certification Costs Are Often Overlooked By Organization?

PCI DSS certification costs that organizations often overlook include system upgrades, third-party consultation fees, and labor costs (when you hire external manpower to perform certain tasks).

2. Does the Organization Face Penalties For Late PCI DSS Compliance Reports?

Yes, they do. If organizations fail to submit PCI DSS compliance reports on time, they get penalized by payment card networks ((PCI Security Standards Council).

3. How Long Does It Take To Complete PCI DSS Certification?

Typically, the PCI DSS compliance process takes around 3 to 12 months to complete. However, this duration varies depending on the organization size.