PCI-DSS Compliance

Overview

PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) applies to any merchant that accepts card payments. The scope and complexity of your compliance obligations depend almost entirely on how card data flows through your systems. Merchants who use hosted payment forms (Shopify Payments, Stripe Checkout, PayPal hosted) can qualify for the simplest assessment (SAQ A, ~22 controls). Merchants who run custom payment pages face the most complex assessment (SAQ D, ~330 controls). The single most important PCI decision is: choose a payment method that minimizes your scope.

When to Use This Skill

• When accepting credit card payments and need to determine your PCI compliance scope
• When selecting between SAQ A, SAQ A-EP, SAQ D, or other questionnaire types
• When implementing tokenization to reduce PCI scope
• When setting up logging, monitoring, and alerting infrastructure for PCI audit readiness
• When preparing for a QSA (Qualified Security Assessor) audit or completing an SAQ

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine your PCI scope based on payment method

The most important decision in PCI compliance is how card data flows through your environment: