Disclaimer: I choose to treat people the way I would like to be treated. My $0.02: maybe this is just one way your competitor is inept at running their busines

Disclaimer: I choose to treat people the way I would like to be treated. My $0.02: maybe this is just one way your competitor is inept at running their business. I'd say the probability is very high of that. An overwhelmed founder IMO may be a sweet acquisition target. If he knows he is in over his head, maybe he would be happy to sell you his company for terms you can accept. You'll get all the customers, and you'll also know those customers are in your good care. If you whack him upside the head with a report to Visa, MC, etc. he'll fix it and continue to be ignorant or negligent in all the other ways he is failing to adequately serve his customer base. Lastly, and please know I am not accusing you of a nefarious plot here. But anyone reading this will see the potential prize of acquiring a competitor's client base. I want to dispel the myth that a report would be a fatal blow to his company that would result in your company ending up with all his customers. His merchant bank who is really on the hook for his PCI compliance will not terminate his account over a first offense. They will instead make even more money off him by imposing remediation consulting. And if those expenses were to put him out of business, there would still be an acquisition cost in reaching his customers, letting them know that your company exists and selling them on your solution. My general approach to life: I do my best to limit my actions to those that will enhance or maintain the quality of my reflection in the mirror.