What is PCI DSS?

The public expects merchants, vendors and financial institutions to protect data on credit and debit payment cards in order to thwart theft and prevent unauthorised use.

As a means of ensuring that they do, the Payment Card Industry has put in place a Data Security Standard with which merchants need to comply. The standard sets out 12 basic security requirements, emphasising the need for encryption, access controls and firewalls. Penalties for non-compliance range from fines to increased auditing requirements or even losing the ability to process credit card transactions.

Every merchant storing, transmitting or processing card data is required to meet certain security standards. More information can be found on the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council website.