<P> The PCI Standard is mandated by the card brands and administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council . The standard was created to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce credit card fraud . Validation of compliance is performed annually , either by an external Qualified Security Assessor ( QSA ) or by a firm specific Internal Security Assessor that creates a Report on Compliance for organizations handling large volumes of transactions , or by Self - Assessment Questionnaire ( SAQ ) for companies handling smaller volumes . </P>
who is responsible for ensuring merchant compliance with pci dss
Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council