Cardholder data is any information linked to a payment card, like a credit or debit card, stored, processed, or transmitted during a card transaction. Cardholder data often includes the Primary Account Number (PAN), Cardholder Name, Expiration Date, and Service Code. Additionally, cardholder data may include other sensitive information like the card's security code (CVV or CVC), encrypted PIN blocks, and any other personally identifiable information (PII) associated with the cardholder.
Organizations that handle cardholder data must comply with data security standards like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) to protect this sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, or fraud.