PCI DSS compliance consulting for SaaS, fintech and e-commerce companies

A PCI compliance consultant prepares a company for PCI DSS validation. The work covers mapping where card data flows, defining the cardholder data environment, reducing scope with tokenization, hosted payment pages and segmentation, choosing the SAQ type or ROC path, a gap analysis against PCI DSS v4.0.1, policies, controls and evidence, and preparation for the QSA. Truvo Cyber also keeps the program current after validation, because PCI DSS validation happens every year and some controls recur every three months.

Truvo Cyber is a PCI DSS consultant, and a QSA company performs the ROC assessment. The QSA tests each requirement, writes the Report on Compliance and signs the Attestation of Compliance with your company. For companies that self-assess, your company completes the SAQ and an executive officer signs the attestation. We prepare the evidence, support the SAQ and coordinate with the QSA you contract.

The card brands set merchant and service provider levels by annual transaction volume, and the level decides whether a company self-assesses with an SAQ or needs a ROC from a QSA. Your acquirer confirms what it accepts for merchants. Merchants that fully outsource payment pages often qualify for SAQ A, merchants whose website affects the payment page use SAQ A-EP, and service providers that self-assess use SAQ D for service providers.

Tokenization replaces the card number with a token that has no value outside the payment processor's system. When card data goes straight from the customer's browser to the processor through hosted fields or a redirect, and your systems store only tokens, the systems that handle tokens can fall outside the CDE. The website that serves the payment page stays in scope, and PCI DSS v4.0.1 adds controls over payment page scripts for e-commerce merchants.

Yes. PCI DSS treats segmentation as optional, and segmentation that isolates the CDE from the rest of the network removes the isolated systems from scope. The segmentation controls then need penetration testing to confirm the isolation holds: every 12 months for merchants and every six months for service providers. We design the segmentation with your engineers and coordinate the tests.

PCI DSS v4.0 introduced new requirements that were best practice until March 31, 2025 and became mandatory on that date. Examples include multi-factor authentication for all access into the CDE, an inventory and authorization of scripts on payment pages, change and tamper detection on payment pages, automated audit log review, and targeted risk analyses that set the frequency of some controls. PCI DSS v4.0.1 is the current version of the standard.

Yes, for many requirements. Access control, logging, vulnerability management, change management, incident response and vendor management controls built for SOC 2 or ISO 27001 often meet PCI DSS requirements with added evidence. PCI DSS adds prescriptive requirements those frameworks leave to your judgment: CDE scoping, protection of stored account data, ASV scans, segmentation testing and payment page controls. We map existing controls first and build only the difference.

Yes, in most cases, and the scope depends on how card data reaches the processor. A company that accepts card payments is a merchant and validates PCI DSS every year, even when a processor handles the card data through hosted fields. A platform that stores, processes or transmits card data for other businesses, or can affect the security of their payments, is a service provider. Merchants are required to monitor the PCI DSS status of their service providers every year, so enterprise buyers ask for your AOC during procurement.

The deployment model decides the path. When your company stores, processes or transmits card data, or manages systems that do, PCI DSS applies. When your payment software is installed and operated by your customers and your company holds no card data, the customers carry the PCI DSS scope, and payment partners may ask for validation under the PCI Software Security Framework instead. We map your data flows and deployment model on the scoping call and confirm which standard applies.

PCI DSS is an industry standard enforced by contract. The card brands require PCI DSS through their agreements with acquirers, and acquirers pass the requirement to merchants in the merchant agreement. The same standard applies to companies in the United States and Canada. Privacy and breach notification laws in each country apply separately, and a PCI DSS program supports both.

Yes. Truvo Cyber's consultants are in Canada and the United States and work with companies in both countries. Data flow workshops, evidence reviews and QSA preparation work by video and screen share, and on-site visits are arranged when the CDE includes physical locations.