What is a PCI and what is a PCI Compliance?

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) is a group of payment industry organizations that develops and maintains security standards for handling cardholder data. These standards help businesses protect payment information, reduce the risk of fraud, and maintain secure payment systems and networks.

PCI Compliance refers to the security standards established by the payment card industry to help protect cardholder data during payment transactions. As cyber threats and data breaches have become more common, businesses that accept card payments are expected to maintain PCI compliance to help reduce the risk of fraud and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Some payment processors may charge PCI compliance or breach protection fees to help support these security programs and services.