Ensure your staff knows how to protect sensitive payment card data with our PCI DSS training. This CPD-certified training course equips employees responsible for handling card payments with essential knowledge to ensure compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). It teaches them their responsibilities and provides strategies to securely handle sensitive cardholder data for both in-person and remote transactions, reducing the risk of data breaches and fraud.
PCI DSS Training
schedule
Course Duration: 55+ minutes
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100% online training
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Full audio voiceover
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Fully online assessment
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Discounts when you buy in bulk
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Access on any device
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App available for iOS & Android
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Course Details
| Course Duration | 55+ minutes |
|---|---|
| Approval body | CPD |
| Format | Fully online |
| Assessment | Multiple choice |
| Certification | Same-day digital certificate |
| Certificate Valid For | 3 years |
Suitable For
Course Content
This course contains the following sections:
Introduces key terminology related to PCI DSS and payment card security.
Explains the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and its purpose.
Provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities for ensuring PCI DSS compliance.
Outlines the breakdown of the goals and requirements of PCI DSS.
Covers best practices for secure storage, processing and transmission of cardholder data.
Discusses measures to restrict access to cardholder data to authorised personnel only.
Provides guidelines for handling transactions where the cardholder is present.
Explores strategies for handling transactions where the cardholder is not present.
Offers strategies for preventing and addressing payment card fraud.
Teaches how to detect and respond to security breaches involving cardholder data.
Presents real-world examples to illustrate PCI DSS principles and best practices.
What You Will Learn
Available in 20+ Languages
Course Approval Body
The course certificate includes:
- User name
- Company name
- Course name
- Completion date
- Expiry date
- Approval body
A CPD-certified certificate will be available for download and printing instantly upon course completion.
Users must complete an assessment before earning their certificate.
The end-of-course test is:
- Fully online
- Multiple choice
A score of 80% is required to pass.
Customer Feedback
Why Is PCI DSS Training Important?
Crime related to stolen card information causes significant losses for UK customers. In fact, according to the UK Parliament’s research briefing on banking fraud, banking and credit account fraud accounted for around 30% of crimes against individuals in England and Wales in 2025. In the same year, UK Finance estimates that remote purchase fraud led to losses of £423.5 million.
The Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a global standard designed to protect customers’ payment card data from being accessed and misused by criminals. UK businesses of all sizes that accept, store, or process payment card data must comply with the standard.
PCI DSS awareness training helps staff understand their responsibilities for payment card security. When employees understand their responsibilities, it helps the organisation prevent costly data breaches, avoid non-compliance fines, and build operational trust.
Are You Aware of Your Responsibilities?
If your organisation accepts card payments, you must make sure that everyone who handles card data, or whose work could affect its security, is properly trained and follows PCI DSS requirements. You’ll also need to put security controls in place and maintain them, carry out regular security assessments and respond promptly to data breaches.
Depending on how they apply to your organisation, PCI DSS, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 require you to:
- Process cardholder data lawfully, fairly and transparently
- Train staff to handle payment card data securely
- Use appropriate security measures to protect data against unauthorised access, loss or damage
- Help people exercise their data rights where they apply, such as the rights to access, correct and erase their data and to restrict how it’s processed
- Monitor your security systems and respond to suspicious activity
- Report personal data breaches to the ICO if they’re likely to result in a risk to people’s rights and freedoms. You must do this without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach
- Tell affected people without undue delay if a breach is likely to result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms
- Keep records of your processing activities where required, and be able to demonstrate that you comply with the law
If you accept electronic payments, work with your payment provider to support strong customer authentication (SCA) where it applies.
Giving your staff PCI DSS training helps you meet these responsibilities.
About This PCI DSS Course
This PCI DSS compliance training is designed for employees who handle card payments. It helps them understand PCI DSS v4.0 requirements, including those related to handling payment card data, access control and fraud prevention.
Completing the course doesn’t, on its own, make your organisation PCI DSS compliant, and it isn’t a substitute for role-specific technical training.
How This Training Helps Your Workplace
This PCI DSS awareness training for staff helps your organisation:
- Raise staff awareness of their PCI DSS responsibilities
- Reinforce secure card handling practices
- Highlight the risks in both face-to-face and remote transactions
- Promote good habits around passwords and access control
- Help staff recognise possible fraud and security breaches
- Encourage staff to report concerns promptly through your workplace procedures
Frequently Asked Questions
PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It’s a global set of technical and operational requirements designed to protect payment card data. It applies to organisations that store, process or transmit cardholder data and to those that could affect its security.
PCI DSS compliance is required by payment card schemes and acquiring banks. Failure to comply can result in financial penalties from these providers. In some cases, a business can lose the ability to accept card payments.
Separately, breaches of the UK data protection law can also lead to legal penalties.
This course is suitable for anyone who handles payment card information at work, including staff who process credit and debit card transactions, IT professionals, security officers and compliance managers.
This PCI DSS training is fully online so you can complete it on a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Yes. This PCI DSS course is certified by The CPD Certification Service.
No. The course provides staff awareness training and a certificate of completion, but it doesn’t validate your organisation’s PCI DSS compliance. That has to be assessed separately.
The certificate is valid for three years. However, your organisation still needs to meet any PCI DSS awareness training requirements that apply, which may mean training staff more often.
Where PCI DSS Requirement 12.6.3 applies, staff must receive security awareness training when they join and at least once every 12 months. This doesn’t necessarily mean repeating this course each year, but you must provide training that suits each person’s role and your workplace procedures.
Yes, where PCI DSS Requirement 12.6 applies. It requires a formal security awareness programme covering relevant threats, your security policies and procedures, and each person’s role in protecting cardholder data. You can choose the training that suits your organisation. PCI DSS doesn’t require this particular course.
No specialist technical knowledge is needed. This online PCI DSS awareness training introduces key terms and the card security responsibilities that come up in everyday work. People in technical roles may need extra training specific to their duties.
