What PCI Security Standards Council does

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) is a global, open standards body founded in 2006 and organized as a limited liability company headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It was established by American Express, Discover, JCB International, Mastercard and Visa to develop, evolve and enforce technical and operational standards that protect cardholder data across the payments ecosystem. The Council's functional role is to set the rulebook (PCI DSS and adjacent standards), qualify the people and labs that audit compliance, and convene the merchants, vendors, processors and financial institutions that must operate within that rulebook; it currently serves 700+ Participating Organizations across 60+ countries.

Its core product is a portfolio of standards and the qualification programs around them. The flagship, PCI DSS, is currently at v4.0.1 (published 2024) with future-dated requirements phasing in. Surrounding it are PTS POI and PTS HSM standards for hardware devices, P2PE for point-to-point encryption, MPoC for mobile payments on consumer devices (with CPoC and SPoC being sunset), Secure Software and Secure Software Lifecycle for payment applications, and 3DS standards. The business model is standards-governance-as-a-service: revenue comes from tiered Participating Organization membership dues (Associate, Principal, Affiliate), training and qualification of Internal Security Assessors, Qualified Security Assessors, Approved Scanning Vendors, PTS Labs and P2PE assessors, product listing and validation fees paid by vendors whose solutions are tested against the standards, and a community-meetings franchise (Global Community Meetings, regional meetings, the Payment Security Summit) that monetizes engagement. Distribution is community-led, relying on Regional Engagement Boards, Special Interest Groups, public comment periods and partner-led events rather than a traditional field sales motion.

The Council is a mature, 20-year-old institution that recently published its first Annual Report (2025), operates with a headcount in the 11-50 range, has no external funding and does not acquire other entities; it competes on governance authority and ecosystem breadth rather than technology differentiation. AI is treated by the Council as a topic to be addressed within its standards rather than as a product capability.

Name

PCI Security Standards Council

Legal name

PCI Security Standards Council, LLC

Website

https://pcisecuritystandards.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PCI Security Standards Council is a global standards body that develops and maintains the PCI Data Security Standard and related payment-security frameworks, qualifying assessors and labs to enforce compliance across merchants, vendors, processors, and financial institutions in 60+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Data Security Standards

akta.pro primary industry

POS Certification, Testing & Compliance (EMVCo, PCI PTS/PCI DSS) (FSAMADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Security Audits & Compliance (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX) (BPAKADAC), POS Security, Encryption & Key Management (P2PE, HSM, Key Injection) (FSAMADAK)

Keywords

• Payment security standards
• Cardholder data protection
• PCI compliance training
• Payment card industry
• Data security standards

Headquarters

HQ city

Wakefield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Participating Organization Membership Fees: Annual membership fees for organizations participating in PCI SSC programs. Standard membership: $4,000/year; Tier 2 countries (upper-middle, lower-middle, low-income economies): $1,500/year. Principal PO tiers based on revenue: $50,000 (>$1B), $35,000 ($500M-$999M), $27,500 ($100M-$499M), $20,000 (<$100M).
2. Training and Qualification Programs: Revenue from training programs including QSA training ($3,600 new, $2,200 requalification), ISA training ($4,000 non-PO, $2,000 PO), PCIP training ($2,750 non-PO, $1,700 PO), and various knowledge training courses. Additional exam retake fees and training class change fees.
3. Assessor and Laboratory Qualification Fees: Fees for qualifying assessors and laboratories including QSA regional qualification fees (up to $29,000), PFI qualification fees (regional up to $20,000, global $40,000), and laboratory annual management fees ($18,000).
4. Product and Solution Listing Fees: Fees for listing validated payment solutions including PTS device listing ($2,000), Secure Software listing ($3,300), 3DS SDK listing ($3,000), and solution submission fees for P2PE, MPoC, SPoC, CPoC programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

PCI Security Standards Council develops, maintains, and promotes adoption of global payment data security standards (PCI DSS, P2PE, MPoC, SPoC, CPoC, PTS POI/HSM, Secure Software, 3DS, TSP). It operates a global standards body funded primarily through Participating Organization memberships, assessor and laboratory qualification programs, training and certification fees, and product/solution listing fees for validated payment technologies.

Product overview

PCI Security Standards Council operates as a standards development organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of payment security standards and training programs. The core offering consists of security standards including PCI DSS (the foundational data security standard), P2PE (point-to-point encryption), Secure Software and Secure SLC, and various payment terminal/device standards (PTS POI, PIN Security, Card Production). The Council also provides mobile payment standards (MPoC, CPoC, SPoC), 3D Secure standards (PCI 3DS Core and SDK), tokenization standards (TSP), and HSM security requirements. Supporting the standards are qualification programs that train and certify security assessors (QSA, PCIP, ISA, PFI, QPA, QIR, ASV, CPSA) and software assessors (Secure Software, Secure SLC). Knowledge Training programs help organizations understand assessment processes. The portfolio is complemented by community meetings, forums, the PCI Perspectives Blog, and the Coffee with the Council Podcast for ongoing industry engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Only 14.3% of global organizations maintained full PCI DSS compliance at interim validation (2024 Payment Security Report)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited (CRED)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 June 2026Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited, operating as CRED, has become a new Principal Participating Organization at PCI SSC. CRED is a members-only fintech platform offering credit card bill payments, lending, rent payments, and commerce experiences. As a Principal PO, CRED will collaborate on cloud-based payment security, tokenization, authentication mechanisms, fraud prevention, API security, and data protection best practices.
• SmartcomplycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2026Smartcomply, a Nigerian-founded cybersecurity and compliance technology firm, has been admitted as an Associate Participating Organization of PCI SSC, becoming among the first companies in its category from Nigeria to participate in shaping international payment data security standards. The membership enables Smartcomply to contribute to global payment security standards while bringing African market insights—particularly on mobile money, instant payments, and cross-border systems—to the Council's forums.
• QNAflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 January 2026QNA, a leader in the global events industry, partners with PCI SSC to organize the Payment Security Summit series. The summit is an invitation-only forum bringing together senior stakeholders from government, regulatory bodies, financial institutions, payment networks, fintech companies, and cybersecurity leaders. Following successful editions in Mumbai, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Dubai, the partnership expanded to include Sydney and Tokyo as new host cities.
• SecurePIIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025SecurePII, a global software company specializing in data privacy and PCI compliance solutions, has joined PCI SSC as an Associate Participating Organization. The company will contribute its expertise in securing payment data in voice channels and large-scale communications environments, supporting the ongoing development of PCI Security Standards worldwide.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FIDO Alliance: FIDO Alliance develops open authentication standards (passkeys, FIDO2) that, like PCI SSC's 3DS Core and SDK, sit at the intersection of payments, identity, and security. Both are member-driven bodies whose standards become de facto industry requirements through adoption by payments and platform players.
• GlobalPlatform: GlobalPlatform is a standards body specifying architectures and management frameworks for secure elements, trusted execution environments, and secure chips. It is comparable to PCI SSC as a multi-stakeholder organization producing security and technology standards consumed by the payments and digital identity ecosystem.
• EMVCo: EMVCo is the global technical body that manages and evolves the EMV specifications for card-based payments. Like PCI SSC, it is a multi-stakeholder standards organization funded by major payment networks, with a directly analogous role in payment security and interoperability standards.

Broad incumbents

• Cloud Security Alliance (CSA): CSA is a broad, established security standards body (notably the Security, Trust & Assurance Registry and Cloud Controls Matrix) serving a wider remit than payments. It is comparable to PCI SSC as a community-driven standards organization with membership, training, and certification programs, though it operates across industries rather than payments-specific.
• Internet Security Alliance (ISA): ISA is a multi-sector trade association that develops cybersecurity frameworks, policy guidance, and standards used by both public and private sectors. It is comparable to PCI SSC in operating as an association-driven standards influencer, though its scope spans all industries rather than payments.
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization): ISO develops the 27000-series information security standards (e.g., ISO 27001) that PCI SSC aligns with. As the dominant international standards body, ISO is a broad incumbent comparable to PCI SSC in delivering globally adopted compliance frameworks, though operating at a much larger scale and across industries.
• NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): NIST publishes the Cybersecurity Framework, SP 800-53, and other security standards frequently referenced alongside PCI DSS. While a U.S. government body rather than industry consortium, it is a comparable authority shaping payment security practices and frequently cross-referenced by PCI SSC materials.

Others

• PCI Forensic Investigator (PFI) firms (e.g., Trustwave, Verizon): Trustwave and similar firms are qualified PFI / QSA organizations that operate inside the PCI SSC ecosystem rather than competing with it. They are comparable as adjacent ecosystem participants delivering compliance and forensic services under PCI SSC's standards and qualifications framework.

Regional players

• Smartcomply: Smartcomply is a Nigerian cybersecurity and compliance technology firm that recently joined PCI SSC as an Associate Participating Organization. It is comparable as a regional compliance and payment security vendor building African-market solutions aligned with PCI SSC standards, reflecting the Council's emerging-market expansion.

Emerging players

• PCI Pal: PCI Pal provides PCI-compliant payment security solutions, particularly for contact center and voice environments. It is comparable as a participant in the PCI compliance market that builds products to PCI SSC's P2PE and cardholder data protection standards, though it is a vendor rather than a standards body.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PCISSC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC7cPVL_HdnX4ZEGdYJMjOew
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2043861
• Instagraminstagram.com/pcissc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PCI Security Standards Council