At SurkshaNow Partners, we provide end-to-end PCI compliance audit solutions to secure payment environments and meet industry standards. As a PCI certified assessor and PCI qualified security assessor (QSA) firm, we deliver expert assessments—including PCI DSS, SSF, P2PE, PIN, and 3DS compliance—ensuring complete protection of cardholder data across all touchpoints.
We don't just help you pass your audit we ensure continuous, sustainable compliance with guidance from certified experts offering industry-leading PCI QSA services and PCI DSS audit services.
Map and define your Cardholder Data Environment (CDE), including all systems, processes, and third-party interactions in scope — a critical part of meeting PCI DSS compliance levels and simplifying future assessments.
Perform a detailed gap analysis against PCI DSS reporting levels and other PCI requirements, identify weaknesses, and provide a prioritised remediation plan.
Audit existing policies, controls, and evidence (logs, diagrams, access controls), updating documentation to align with PCI standards such as PCI SSF requirements and wireless PCI compliance requirements.
Guide the fixing of vulnerabilities—implement missing controls, encryption, improved access management, and network segmentation, validating effectiveness to ensure an audit-ready environment.
Certified QSAs perform formal audits (RoC or SAQ), including support for PCI Level 2 compliance and SAQ A level PCI compliance, and issue Reports on Compliance (RoC) and Attestations of Compliance (AoC).
Maintain compliance year-round via vulnerability scans and change management — leveraging automated PCI compliance and PCI compliance website checker options.
Our proven methodology ensures successful PCI DSS certification and ongoing compliance
Identify all systems, processes, and third-party connections handling cardholder data — a key step in aligning with PCI DSS API security and network compliance. Define the Cardholder Data Environment (CDE) to focus audit efforts and minimise PCI compliance audit cost.
Compare current security controls against PCI DSS, SSF, P2PE, PIN, and 3DS requirements. Highlight vulnerabilities and provide a prioritised remediation plan that includes updates to PCI DSS compliance rules.
Implement missing controls, encryption, access management, and network segmentation. Validate effectiveness to ensure the CDE is audit-ready — including PCI validated P2PE and PCI P2PE SAQ options.
Certified QSAs perform SAQ or a full RoC audit. Issue Report on Compliance (RoC) and Attestation of Compliance (AoC), aligned with all relevant PCI DSS levels.
Conduct periodic vulnerability scans, change management, and scope re-evaluation. Ensure continuous compliance, with additional support from ASV PCI compliance tools, PCI ASV pricing guidance, and top PCI ASV vendors with options like a free ASV scan.
Every successful PCI DSS compliance program starts with understanding your Cardholder Data Environment and payment processing flows.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard provides a comprehensive framework for protecting cardholder data through 12 requirements covering network security, access control, monitoring, and security policies. Whether you're a Level 1 merchant processing millions of transactions or a smaller business using SAQ assessments, achieving PCI DSS compliance demonstrates your commitment to payment security and protects your business from data breaches and penalties.
Remember: PCI DSS is not just about compliance—it's about protecting customer payment data and maintaining trust in every transaction.
SurkshaNow Partners - Your Trusted PCI DSS QSA Partner
Evaluating organizational frameworks to ensure structural integrity and compliance.
Global security standard for protecting cardholder data in payment environments. Covers network security, encryption, access controls, monitoring, and secure processing. Mandatory for merchants, processors, fintechs, and any entity handling card payments.
QSA-Certified Assessment Firm
Global PCI Audit Operations
20+ BFSI, Payments & Fintech SMEs
Holistic PCI, Security & Compliance Expertise
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is mandatory for any business that processes, stores, or transmits payment card data. Under PCI DSS v4.0, organizations must meet strict compliance controls to protect their Cardholder Data Environment (CDE) from evolving threats.
For software developers, the retired Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) has been replaced by the **PCI Software Security Framework (SSF)**. If you build payment applications that are sold, distributed, or licensed to third parties, you must certify under the Secure Software Standard (S3) and Secure Software Lifecycle (Secure SLC) standard. This ensures that your payment applications prevent unauthorised storage of sensitive authentication data (SAD) and are inherently secure against common code vulnerabilities.
Implementing a **PCI-validated Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) solution** is one of the most effective methods to reduce your Cardholder Data Environment (CDE) scope. A validated P2PE solution encrypts cardholder data immediately upon capture at the Point of Interaction (POI) terminal and keeps it encrypted until it reaches the secure decryption environment. By using a validated P2PE solution, merchants can drastically simplify their annual compliance verification, qualifying for the shortened **SAQ P2PE** self-assessment.
PCI DSS v4.0 introduces significant structural shifts, moving away from rigid checklist requirements toward a risk-focused framework.
Instead of following strictly defined controls, organizations can design custom controls to meet the explicit security objective of each requirement, backed by a formal QSA-reviewed targeted risk analysis.
Flexible compliance design
MFA is now mandatory for **all access** into the cardholder data environment (CDE), not just for remote administrative logins. Passwords must also be increased to a minimum length of 12 characters.
MFA for all CDE access paths
Compliance requirements scale based on your transaction volume. Level 1 merchants must undergo an annual on-site audit./p>
| Level | Annual Transactions | Audit Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Over 6 million credit or debit card transactions | Level 1 Over 6 million credit or debit card transactions Annual QSA-led Report on Compliance (ROC) + Quarterly ASV Scan |
| Level 2 | Level 2 1 million to 6 million transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan | Level 2 1 million to 6 million transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan |
| Level 3 | Level 3 20,000 to 1 million e-commerce transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan | Level 3 20,000 to 1 million e-commerce transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan |
| Level 4 | Level 4 Fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan | Level 4 Fewer than 20,000 e-commerce transactions Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) + Quarterly ASV Scan |
Minimizing the footprint of cardholder data reduces audit timelines, risks of breach, and ongoing compliance costs.
Replace primary account numbers (PAN) with non-sensitive reference tokens. Cardholder data is stored exclusively in a secure third-party vault, removing your servers from CDE scope.
Use iframe or hosted fields from payment processors (e.g., Stripe Elements, Adyen). This prevents card numbers from passing through your application servers, qualifying you for SAQ A.
Isolate your CDE from other corporate networks using strict firewall rules. Systems outside the segmented environment are not subject to audit requirements, shortening scope.