The PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a suite of security standards defined by a group of Card Service providers like American Express, MasterCard, Visa, JCB International, and Discover Financial Services and is governed by the PCI SSC or the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.
The standard was announced in 2006 with the goal of protecting card transactions from fraud and data theft. Records pertaining to billions of consumers have been compromised through thousands of data breaches since 2005.
That’s when the card service providers created a data security standard to boost safety of customer data and make the payment ecosystem trustworthy. Prior to this, disparate security standards existed, albeit with similar aims and requirements. They later joined to set up the PCI DSS standard.
The PCI DSS is not legally binding; however, it’s required for businesses who handle debit or credit card transactions. A PCI DSS certification lends credibility and trust to the business, showcasing to customers that the organization is committed safeguarding sensitive information. This helps businesses in forging deep and lasting relationships with customers. The PCI DSS certification ensures that the card information of your customers is secured through the implementation of a set of requirements as defined by the PCI SSC, which include installing firewalls and anti-virus software, encrypting data transmissions, and more.