PCI as a Service (PCIaaS) helps businesses that process credit or debit card payments from customers, to achieve compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). PCI DSS was created by major credit card brands to reduce payment card theft and electronic data loss. It is essentially a list of practices that merchants must follow to accept payment cards, with details on how to securely process, store, and transmit payment card data. There are 12 PCI DSS requirements, all focused on protecting cardholder information.