Paytia holds PCI DSS Level 1 certification — the highest standard for payment card security. Independently audited annually by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), our platform removes card data from your people, processes, and systems.
What our Level 1 certification means for your business
Highest PCI DSS certification
Same level required of the largest payment processors worldwide
Scope reduction for clients
Card data never enters your environment, removing most PCI requirements
Simplified compliance for you
Most clients qualify for the shortest Self-Assessment Questionnaire
Level 1
PCI DSS certified
Annual
QSA audit
96%
Scope reduction
SAQ A
Eligible
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a global standard that governs how businesses handle, process, and store payment card data. It was established by the major card brands — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB — through the PCI Security Standards Council.
Any business that accepts, transmits, or stores cardholder data must comply with PCI DSS. Non-compliance exposes businesses to data breaches, substantial fines, and the potential loss of the ability to process card payments.
Paytia holds PCI DSS Level 1 certification, the highest level of payment card security achievable. This certification is independently audited and verified annually by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). Our Attestation of Compliance (AoC) is available upon request.
Level 1 requires on-site audits, network penetration testing, and detailed review of all security controls.
The same level required of the largest payment processors in the world.
In addition to PCI DSS Level 1, Paytia is Cyber Essentials Plus certified, meeting UK government standards for cyber protection.
PCI DSS defines four compliance levels based on transaction volume. Paytia operates at Level 1, the most rigorous tier.
| Level | Transaction Volume |
|---|---|
| Level 1Paytia | Over 6 million per year |
| Level 2 | 1 to 6 million per year |
| Level 3 | 20,000 to 1 million per year |
| Level 4 | Fewer than 20,000 per year |
Our proprietary DTMF masking technology ensures that payment card numbers are never exposed to agents, call recordings or client systems.
Card data is captured directly from the caller's telephone keypad and routed securely to the payment processor without passing through the client's environment.
DTMF tones are suppressed so that card numbers cannot be identified from the audio stream, call recordings, or screen captures. Agents remain on the call throughout.
Card data never enters the client's network, telephony or call recording systems. The compliance burden is significantly simplified, reducing audit costs and risk.
Paytia simplifies PCI DSS compliance, saving your business time, money, and risk.
Because card data never enters the client environment, the vast majority of PCI DSS requirements no longer apply to your business.
Fewer systems in scope means simpler, faster, and more affordable PCI assessments and self-assessment questionnaires.
No card data in your environment means no card data to breach. You cannot lose what you never had.
Most Paytia clients qualify for the shortest Self-Assessment Questionnaire, reducing compliance paperwork dramatically.
PCI DSS compliance comes down to one simple assessment your business must make:
“Do you have card data (PAN — full card number) and CVV/CVC (security code) in any of your payment flows?”
With Paytia in front of your business, the answer becomes NO.
When you implement Paytia, you can attest that you have outsourced responsibility to a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider who captures, transacts, and tokenises cardholder and sensitive authentication data for your business.
Under PCI DSS 4.0.1 Section 12, your business has a responsibility to vet Paytia as your service provider. Specifically:
12.8.2.a
Examine policies and procedures to verify that processes are defined for engaging service providers
12.8.2.b
Verify that the entity maintains a list of service providers
12.8.2.c
Verify that the entity monitors service providers' PCI DSS compliance status
Paytia will provide you with our Attestation of Compliance (AoC) confirming our audit level and that we have been assessed and verified as a safe service provider that can handle card data and SAD for your business.
12.8.1
Have a written policy for how you manage service providers like Paytia who handle card data on your behalf
12.8.4
Check at least once a year that Paytia is still PCI DSS compliant (we make this easy by providing our AoC on request)
12.8.5
Keep a clear record of which PCI requirements Paytia handles for you and which ones your business is responsible for
Important: Paytia removes the vast majority of PCI requirements from your business. You are still responsible for checking that Paytia remains compliant and for securing any of your own systems that connect to our services.
Paytia web forms and checkout include content security protection as standard, with real-time logging and administrator alerts.
Section 11.6 requires organisations to deploy tamper-detection mechanisms to alert personnel to unauthorised modification of critical files, data, or systems.
We maintain continuous compliance through regular vulnerability scanning, penetration testing and internal security reviews. Our infrastructure is monitored around the clock and we conduct quarterly ASV (Approved Scanning Vendor) scans as required by the PCI Security Standards Council.
While Paytia removes the majority of PCI requirements from our clients, some obligations remain. We provide guidance and documentation to help clients complete their own SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire) and maintain their compliance posture.
Our compliance team works directly with clients and their QSAs to ensure a smooth assessment process. We provide all necessary documentation, including our AoC, responsibility matrices, and technical architecture details.
As a certified Level 1 service provider, Paytia captures, processes, and stores payment card data on behalf of your business, removing sensitive card information from your people, processes, and systems.
Your staff no longer need to handle or be exposed to sensitive payment information.
Your business workflows no longer require strict card data handling procedures.
Your IT infrastructure no longer stores or processes sensitive payment data.
By using Paytia, your business can qualify for simplified PCI compliance validation, often reducing requirements to a simple Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ A).
Leverage Paytia's enterprise-grade security infrastructure, including encryption, tokenisation, and continuous monitoring to protect your customers' payment information.
Discover how Paytia's PCI DSS Level 1 certified platform can reduce your compliance scope by up to 96%. Our AoC is available to clients, prospective clients, and their compliance teams upon request.