What is PCI?

PCI is the Payment Card Industry standard. It is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies which process, store, or transmit credit card information do so in a secure manner. These standards were set forth by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), which was an independent body created by the major credit card vendors, most often identified as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, and Discover.

The basic concept is that it is an effort by the credit card vendors to combat fraud while protecting themselves, and by proxy, the consumers who use credit cards. If every merchant adheres to the security standards, then a minimum security benchmark has been established, thus protecting everyone.