What is PCI and who does it apply to?

PCI refers to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, a set of security standards that help you keep your payment processing environment secure. If you accept credit or debit cards, PCI compliance applies to you.

  • Applies to: any business that accepts, transmits or stores cardholder data
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What is PCI?

The PCI standards set out how to keep the systems you take payments with secure. Any company that accepts, processes, stores or transmits credit card information must comply with them.

Who does PCI apply to?

Any business that accepts, transmits or stores cardholder data (the details from a customer’s card). If you take credit or debit cards as payment, that includes you.

Updated November 2, 2026

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