The PCI Security Standards Council Explained
With our exciting announcement of becoming a participating organisation in the PCI Security Standards Council comes along with many questions. For those of you who are not as tech-savvy, this guide brought to you by our Chief Security Officer Neal Hindocha will explain what PCI is, and what are the benefits of being a participating organisation on their council!
What are PCI Standards?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards or PCI DSS is a set of rules and regulations for organisations that handle credit card information or payments. These regulations are standards that are mandated by prominent card brands like VISA, Mastercard, China UnionPay, JCB, etc. but are enforced by the PCI Security Standards Council.
“The major benefit to PCI for payment solution companies like us is that there’s only one standard and it’s accepted everywhere. When creating a payment solution there are often different regulations you need to follow based on different locations but in regards to security, PCI makes it easy. You only have to abide by them.” says Neal Hindocha, Chief Security Officer of Surfboard Payments AB.
Now the PCI Security Standards Council updates these standards regularly. It is made up of all the major card brands worldwide, and they alone make the final decisions.
What does it mean to be a participating organisation?
“Acting as a participating organisation to the PCI Security Standards Council is a huge honour. It says a lot about Surfboard Payments as a company, because not just anyone can be accepted as we were”, explains Hindocha.
A participating organisation might not have the final say in the PCI Standards as it is not a member like the other card brands; However, it does allow an organisation to work very closely with PCI and help improve the security standards of tomorrow. Companies like Surfboard Payments who are involved in the council will get the opportunity to work in groups, where important decisions in security are being discussed. Surfboard Payments will be able to provide opinions, valuable feedback and influence towards the betterment of security in the payment industry on a global scale.
“To keep it short it allows us to influence and participate in the future standards of PCI”, says Hindocha. “We are very excited to work along with PCI to secure the next generation of mobile payments.”