# PCI DSS

https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/pci-dss/

*Last updated: 2026-08-03*

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — the card schemes’ rules for handling cardholder data. What a merchant has to do under it depends mostly on whether card data ever touches their own systems: a shop using a supplied terminal, or a website using a hosted checkout page, carries far less of it than one that captures card numbers itself.

## Why it matters to a merchant

The standard is far smaller for most merchants than the name suggests, and the reason is scope: what applies depends on how much cardholder data the merchant touches. A shop taking payment on a terminal it does not own, and never storing a card number, is in a different world from one storing card data in its own system. Establishing which one you are is the first step and it usually shortens the list.

## Related terms

*Licensing and regulation in Singapore*

- [MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mas/)
- [Payment Services Act 2019](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/psa-2019/)
- [MPI (Major Payment Institution)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mpi/)
- [SPI (Standard Payment Institution)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/spi/)
- [MAS Financial Institutions Directory](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/fid/)
- [KYC / KYB](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/kyc-kyb/)
- [Beneficial owner](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/beneficial-owner/)
- [Merchant Acquisition (licensed activity)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/merchant-acquisition/)
- [UEN (Unique Entity Number)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/uen/)
- [ACRA](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/acra/)
- [PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/pdpa/)
- [AML / CFT](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/aml-cft/)

- [All 74 terms](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/)

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