Question 1

What does PCI DSS 9.5.1.3 require?

Accepted Answer

PCI DSS v4.0.1 Requirement 9.5.1.3 requires that personnel in payment-terminal environments are trained to be aware of attempted tampering or replacement of payment devices. The training covers four things: verifying the identity of third-party repair or maintenance people before granting access; not installing, replacing or returning devices without verification; being aware of suspicious behaviour around devices; and reporting suspected tampering or substitution to the right people. SkimGuard's training helps you document and evidence all four, and keeps a record of who was trained, when, and on what content.

Question 2

How do staff who don't have a login take the training?

Accepted Answer

Most cashiers and field technicians don't have a portal account, so SkimGuard uses a lightweight staff roster. An owner adds each person with an employee number; on the in-store device the staff member enters that employee number and a PIN they choose, takes the modules, and their completion is recorded and attributed to them. No individual email account or portal seat is required.

Question 3

Can I use my own training program instead of SkimGuard's?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A business can switch to external mode, in which SkimGuard serves no content and an authorized admin records that a named person completed the business's own program: the program name and version, the completion date, who attested it, and an optional certificate file. Each record is stamped as SkimGuard-delivered or external so it stays honest in every export and QSA-facing view.

Question 4

What languages is the training available in?

Accepted Answer

SkimGuard's in-app modules are available in all 22 languages the app supports, and each staff member automatically gets the training in their device language where a translation exists (falling back to English otherwise). This helps you evidence that the people at your terminals actually understood the material, not just that a completion was logged.

Question 5

How does SkimGuard show who is and isn't trained?

Accepted Answer

The moment a staff member is added they show as overdue until they complete training, so a new hire is never invisible. The business portal shows coverage per location: how many staff at each site are current, expiring or overdue, and reminders go out as training approaches expiry. The whole record exports to CSV or PDF, including an append-only completion log with the exact content version each person was trained on.

Question 6

Does the staff training cost extra?

Accepted Answer

No. The staff security-awareness training platform is included at no extra charge in both SkimGuard service tiers, App Plan and Integration. There is no separate training system to buy, no per-seat fee, and no add-on. For many merchants that alone offsets the cost of the subscription, since meeting 9.5.1.3 otherwise usually means paying for a separate learning system.

Question 7

Does using SkimGuard's training make my business PCI compliant?

Accepted Answer

No single product makes a business PCI compliant. SkimGuard's training helps you document and evidence the staff-awareness control in PCI DSS v4.0.1 Requirement 9.5.1.3: the content, the completions, the coverage and the audit-ready record an assessor looks for. It is not itself an attestation or certification of PCI compliance, and it is not a substitute for a full Requirement 12.6 security-awareness program. Your overall PCI DSS compliance is assessed by your QSA or acquirer.

Train the people who work at your card readers, and have the records ready when someone asks.

Train the people at the card reader, and prove it.

Built for the people who don’t have a login

Your team’s language, or your own program

Coverage you can actually show

The four topics the rule requires, plus how to inspect.

Meeting this rule usually means buying a separate training system. Here it’s free.

Give your team the training, and the record.