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 point-of-interaction (POI) 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 B2B service tiers — Handheld and Automated. 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.