It could well be true, this took effect in Sweden a few years ago anyway. You probably shouldn't be getting PCI certified unless you have a fair amount of time and money to spend on the process.
If your gateway doesn't intend to supply a PCI compatible solution of their own you should probably get another implemented instead. (I have one or two customer that went through PCI certification, it's a pointless hassle and they have to get reassessed once a year)
For smaller sites the conversion rate has tended to increase slightly (in sweden, so ymmv..) when using a reputable vendor.
If your gateway doesn't intend to supply a PCI compatible solution of their own you should probably get another implemented instead. (I have one or two customer that went through PCI certification, it's a pointless hassle and they have to get reassessed once a year)
For smaller sites the conversion rate has tended to increase slightly (in sweden, so ymmv..) when using a reputable vendor.