What is Cardholder Data?

Cardholder Data (CHD) is information about a payment card protected by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This includes the full Primary Account Number (PAN), and possibly the cardholder’s name, expiration date, and service code.

CHD is the information that is available after the completion of the transaction, which includes the cardholder’s name, the card expiration date, and the primary account number (PAN). 

Credit card data (CHD) protection is important for several reasons. Customer compliance is crucial, helping maintain trust, adhere to regulations, and prevent financial penalties. Encryption and other security measures are crucial to guarantee that sensitive data stays safe and reduce the possible harm of a data breach.

Financial losses can happen in several ways, including identity theft and fraudulent purchases. Limiting unauthorized access to sensitive CHD data is crucial, as it can minimize the risk of potential financial losses. Any company that handles credit card data must maintain the trust of its customers. The protection of CHD is crucial for businesses to maintain compliance and enhance their credibility regarding data security.

The breach of cardholder data (CHD) can have a significant effect on consumers, financial institutions, and retailers. Financial responsibilities, significant fines, legal bills, compensation costs, reputational harm, and a loss of customer trust are all possible outcomes of breaches.

To reduce these risks, adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is essential. Additional financial penalties and damage to one’s reputation may follow noncompliance. 

Sensitive authentication data (SAD) and cardholder data (CHD) are two categories of data that are crucial for processing payments. CHD contains data like the primary account number (PAN), the cardholder’s name, and the payment card’s expiration date that may be kept after a transaction confirmation.

To authenticate cardholders, SAD comprises components such as the PIN, track data from the magnetic stripe or EMV chip, and the card verification code/value (CVC, CVV, or CID). Because CHD and SAD have different security requirements, it’s critical to understand how they differ. 

• Merchants are allowed to save CHD, but if they do, it needs to be encrypted. However, even if SAD is encrypted, businesses are not allowed to store it after authorization. 
• Merchants can keep CHD since it is less sensitive than SAD.
• Merchants may track customer transactions with the use of CHD.
• Merchants should not hold SAD because it is more sensitive than CHD.
• Merchants cannot trace customer transactions with SAD. 

All organizations participating in card transactions, including banks, payment gateways, merchants, and service providers, must comply with PCI DSS. This holds for any business, regardless of size or transaction volume, that processes, stores, or transmits credit card information. 

To guarantee the security of cardholder data during transactions and storage, every organization involved must adhere to this process. Contractual requirements and yearly compliance validations are specified in credit card network agreements and demanded by credit card companies. 

Third-party processors (TPSPs) also have to follow the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in the processing of payment cards. SaaS companies must manage and monitor the PCI DSS compliance of their TPSPs at least once every 12 months. 

TPSPs must show their PCI DSS compliance to the SaaS organizations to verify it through an annual PCI DSS compliance audit or multiple, random audits of the TPSP. An SaaS business should create a plan to track the TPSPs’ PCI DSS compliance status annually and keep track of all the PCI DSS requirements that are the responsibility of the TPSP. 

In the end, SaaS organizations are responsible for their own PCI DSS compliance. They must ensure that their TPSPs are compliant, as they affect the safety of the cardholder data environment.

Financial penalties, reputational damage, loss of client trust, and missed business opportunities are just a few serious repercussions of non-compliance with PCI DSS.

Additionally, noncompliant companies risk legal repercussions, higher transaction costs, more stringent audit standards, or a bank partnership termination. In severe situations, bankruptcy may result from non-compliance.

Payment card companies may impose fines on acquiring banks, transferring the penalties to merchants. In particular, non-compliance with PCI DSS can result in fines of $5,000 to $100,000 per month until compliance is achieved.

Cardholder data may not be exempt from PCI DSS requirements if encryption is used alone. Systems that manage Cryptage and decryption are under the authority of PCI DSS, as is any environment that contains cardholder data, even if it is encrypted. However, the systems that manage encryption and decryption fall under PCI DSS’s scope, but encrypted cardholder data is not. In settings where cardholder data is present, encryption does not invalidate the requirement for PCI DSS.