PCI DSS Compliance Made Easy in 2025
*Updated 26 March 2025*
With global payment card fraud losses projected to exceed £30 billion by 2026, PCI DSS compliance remains one of the most important areas of focus for any business handling card payments. As more organisations operate remotely and rely on digital infrastructure, the risks have only increased. According to Statista (2024), the costs associated with card fraud are rising steadily every year, driven largely by online and card-not-present (CNP) transactions.
Yet despite its importance, PCI DSS is still widely seen as complicated, resource-heavy, and expensive. For many businesses, especially those handling customer payments over the phone or online, the challenge is knowing where to begin—or how to stay compliant without it becoming a daily burden.
What Is PCI DSS?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a global security standard developed by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), which includes major card providers such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.
First introduced in 2004, PCI DSS sets out 12 core security requirements designed to ensure that any company storing, processing, or transmitting credit card information maintains a secure environment.
In 2024, PCI DSS version 4.0 became mandatory, introducing a range of updates designed to modernise the framework. These include more emphasis on continuous compliance, stronger password and access control standards, and improved guidelines for securing remote workforces and cloud-based systems.
Why Compliance Still Matters
Fraud related to card-not-present transactions continues to account for the majority of losses in the UK. According to UK Finance’s 2023 Fraud Report, CNP fraud made up over 70% of all card fraud incidents. The combination of remote teams, telephone transactions, and insufficient system segmentation puts many organisations at risk of falling short of their PCI obligations.
Non-compliance isn’t just a legal or financial risk—it also affects customer trust. A breach linked to weak card data security can have long-lasting reputational consequences, and may result in fines or being barred from processing card payments altogether.
PCI DSS Levels: Who Needs to Do What?
PCI DSS requirements are tiered based on the volume of card transactions processed annually. The levels range from Level 1 (over 6 million transactions annually) to Level 4 (fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions or up to 1 million total).
Each level determines the level of validation required—from full Reports on Compliance conducted by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), to Self-Assessment Questionnaires and quarterly vulnerability scans. Businesses are also expected to maintain an information security policy and regularly test and monitor their systems.
These processes, while important, can become complex—especially when internal systems, call recordings, and remote agent environments are all considered “in scope” for PCI compliance.
What’s New in PCI DSS v4.0?
The 2024 version of PCI DSS introduced several updates aimed at addressing modern threats and technology use. These include:
- Stricter requirements for multi-factor authentication
- Detailed expectations around securing cloud and hybrid environments
- Flexibility for businesses to implement "customised controls" where traditional measures aren’t practical
- Greater accountability for ongoing security testing and process documentation
These changes are designed to encourage businesses to treat PCI DSS not as a one-time checklist, but as part of a broader, continuous security culture.
Where Most Businesses Struggle
One of the most common issues companies face is having too much infrastructure in PCI scope. For example, if agents manually take payments over the phone, or if card details are stored in call recordings, your phone systems, CRM, network, and even agent desktops may all fall under PCI regulations.
Staff training is another key gap. Many data breaches occur not because of poor technology, but due to a lack of understanding among employees about what constitutes secure behaviour.
Additionally, legacy systems, inconsistent patching, and remote access without strong controls can all introduce vulnerabilities that affect compliance.
Making PCI Compliance Easier (and Smarter)
Fortunately, advances in technology and better solutions have made compliance significantly easier in recent years.
Secure payment platforms now allow customers to input their card details via their telephone keypad using DTMF masking—a process that prevents audible tones from being interpreted, ensuring the agent never sees or hears the card number. This dramatically reduces your PCI DSS scope and minimises the risk of human error.
Call recording, which often becomes a compliance risk when it captures sensitive cardholder data, can also be addressed with these solutions. Modern platforms automatically pause and resume recordings during the payment process, or completely remove card details from the audio stream, eliminating the need to store or secure that data. This not only helps meet PCI DSS requirements but also avoids complex encryption and storage obligations.
Cloud-based secure payment environments further streamline the process, offering hosted solutions purpose-built for call centres and service teams, removing the need for card data to touch your own infrastructure. This greatly simplifies audits and reduces both short- and long-term compliance costs.
Finally, training and awareness remain essential. Security protocols are only as strong as the people who follow them. Ongoing education for staff—particularly those who handle card payments—helps ensure that procedures are followed consistently and securely, creating a culture of compliance rather than just a checklist.
Why It Matters
The fewer systems and people involved in handling card data, the easier PCI compliance becomes. Smart infrastructure decisions, such as segmenting networks or outsourcing the payment flow to a secure platform, can drastically reduce what's considered in-scope.
This shift not only simplifies compliance efforts but also enhances overall data security and reduces the risk of human error.
In 2025, PCI DSS compliance doesn’t have to be the headache it once was. By using modern tools, reducing your compliance scope, and keeping your teams informed and engaged, you can meet the requirements confidently—without overwhelming your IT or operations teams.
Whether you're a contact centre handling phone payments, an online retailer processing e-commerce transactions, or a service-based business with remote agents, there are solutions that fit your environment and budget.
