For banks, credit unions, FinTech firms, tax preparers, and other financial institutions, this certification is far more than another checkbox. Like Virtru's FedRAMP authorization, it serves as validation that Virtru's secure email and file exchange platform has been rigorously tested and proven to safeguard sensitive data, such as credit card details, cardholder personally identifiable information (PII), and other sensitive financial data that flows through your organization every day.
Why PCI Compliance Matters
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard exists for one fundamental reason: to protect consumers' payment card information from data breaches and fraud. Any organization that stores, processes, or transmits credit card data must comply with PCI DSS requirements—and the consequences of non-compliance are severe.
Beyond hefty fines (ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 per month), organizations that fail to maintain PCI compliance risk:
- Loss of ability to process credit card payments
- Reputational damage that can take years to recover from
- Legal liability in the event of a breach
- Increased scrutiny from regulators and auditors
For financial services institutions already navigating complex regulatory requirements under frameworks like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), and FTC Safeguards, PCI-compliant workflows are vital for daily business operations.
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. The standard is administered by the PCI Security Standards Council, founded by major payment card brands including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.
What This Means for Financial Institutions
Virtru's PCI compliance certification means that our secure email and file exchange platform has been independently validated to meet the stringent security controls required to protect payment card data.
Specifically, the Virtru Data Security Platform helps organizations:
Encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest
Whether you're sharing account statements, processing loan applications, or sending tax documents containing payment information, Virtru ensures that cardholder data remains encrypted throughout its entire lifecycle.
Maintain granular access controls
Virtru financial institutions to control exactly who can access sensitive emails and files, with the ability to revoke access at any time, even after a file has been shared.
Create comprehensive audit trails
Every interaction with protected data is logged, giving your compliance and security teams the visibility they need for audits and incident response.
Simplify compliance workflows
Rather than managing multiple point solutions, organizations can use Virtru as a unified platform for securing sensitive financial communications while meeting both PCI DSS and GLBA requirements.
Protecting Financial Data Where It's Most Vulnerable
Email and file sharing remain among the most common—and most vulnerable—methods of transmitting sensitive financial information. Consider these common scenarios:
Banks and Credit Unions regularly exchange documents containing account numbers, credit card details, and personal financial information with customers and partners. A single unencrypted email containing cardholder data can trigger a compliance violation and potential breach.
Tax Preparers and Accounting Firms handle enormous volumes of sensitive information during tax season, including W-2s, 1099s, and financial statements that often contain payment card details. They need secure methods to collect documents from clients and share completed returns.
Payment Processors and Fintech Companies are at the center of the payment ecosystem, constantly transmitting transaction data that must be protected in accordance with PCI requirements.
Mortgage Lenders and Financial Advisors exchange highly sensitive financial documentation as part of their normal business operations, much of which contains information subject to both PCI and GLBA regulations.
In each of these scenarios, Virtru provides a seamless, secure way to share information without compromising the user experience or creating compliance gaps.
Real Results from Virtru's FinServ and FinTech Customers
Virtru is trusted by hundreds of banks, credit unions, tax firms, and other financial institutions that manage cardholder data.
Securing FinTech Email Workflows, At Scale
Reducing Support Tickets by 90% for the World's Largest Banks
One of the world's largest banks uses Virtru to streamline secure emails, without causing friction for VIP clients. Because Virtru does not require users to create any new logins or passwords, it's a far easier experience than portal-based email encryption like Zix.
Just a few weeks into the deployment, this bank sent over 2 million protected emails and files, and had a support ticket volume of just 1,000 — a 90% decrease compared to the bank’s previous encryption solution.
Replacing Legacy Solutions like Cisco IronPort
“With IronPort, [clients] had to log into their Cisco portal to get the email, and it was never really intuitive,” said James McHenry, Network Administrator for Payroll People. “It was pretty hard to use. We would also get lost emails constantly, so we had to check to see if they got delivered correctly.
Now, with Virtru for Outlook and the Virtru Gateway running in the background, the customer experience around encrypted email is much smoother. “Our clients are no longer getting frustrated and irritated with our customer service because they can't see a secured email," McHenry explained.
Ensuring FDIC Compliance and Data Sovereignty for Retention and Storage
Platte Valley Bank previously used Dropbox for secure file exchange, but collaborating with external contacts became cumbersome. Additionally, the storage of sensitive data in folders gave IT and Security Director, Quentin Zabel, heartburn.
“I just like the idea of Virtru just acting more as a channel to receive data rather than a warehouse somewhere or a data center,” said Zabel. “With our regulatory [requirements] that we have to follow, it's a problem if there's data sitting outside of the U.S. somewhere.”
“I hated the fact that we had customer files sitting in our co-worker's’ Dropbox accounts,” Zabel said. In that scenario, “we have customer info sitting on the cloud somewhere, and we don't have good control over that as far as where it's going and what's being done. Whereas with Virtru, we're just simply sending you a file, or you're sending us a file, and it's not being kept anywhere else.”
Built for the Complexity of Financial Services
Financial institutions operate in one of the most highly regulated industries in the world. That's why Virtru was built from the ground up with the needs of regulated industries in mind. Our PCI compliance certification joins our
existing security certifications and compliance frameworks, including:
In addition to Virtru's own compliance, Virtru's technology supports and powers an ecosystem of other compliance frameworks for our customers. Our comprehensive compliance posture means financial institutions can deploy Virtru with confidence, knowing that our platform meets the rigorous security and privacy standards required by multiple regulatory frameworks simultaneously.
PCI Builds Trust
Ultimately, PCI compliant data security helps to build trust and credibility with your customers, demonstrating that you take the security of their financial information seriously. In an era of increasing cyber threats and evolving regulatory requirements, financial institutions need solutions that are both secure and practical for everyday use.
Virtru's PCI compliance certification validates what our financial services customers already know: that our secure email and file exchange platform provides enterprise-grade protection for the sensitive data that powers your business, without sacrificing usability or productivity.
Whether you're a regional bank looking to modernize your secure communication tools, a credit union seeking to simplify compliance workflows, or a tax preparation firm that needs to protect client data during the busiest time of year, Virtru offers a proven, compliant solution that scales with your needs.
Ready to learn more about how Virtru can help your financial institution meet PCI and GLBA requirements while improving security and collaboration?
Contact our team for a demo to see what Virtru can do.