Why comply?

So why should an entity bother spending money and manpower on achieving PCI DSS compliance?

Benefits of compliance:

Increased security levels
Avoid loss of reputation and public trust in case of breach
Avoid Card Scheme penalties for non compliance
Full protection from penalties if breached when PCI compliant
Enhanced information security reputation
Extra customer comfort level
Sales opportunity to vend ‘compliant services’

Risks of non-compliance:

Increased risk of data breach
Significant damage to reputation and public trust when systems are breached, taking off your bottom line
Potential for non compliance fines
Substantial fines imposed for any data breach
Loss of right to conduct business using credit/debit card for payment in a worst case scenario