In this exclusive interaction with Nitin Bhatnagar, Regional Director at PCI Security Standards Council, shares insights on emerging security trends, the value of specialized training, and the Council’s ongoing efforts to build a future-ready, resilient payments ecosystem across these fast-growing markets.
How do you see the payment security landscape evolving across India, South Asia, and the Middle East, especially with rapid digitization and real-time payments becoming mainstream?
Adoption of the PCI Standards has seen an uptick in India and South Asia. In a dynamic market like India and South Asia, local involvement is key to shaping a safer payments ecosystem amid increasing cybersecurity challenges. PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has set up REB- Regional Engagement Board that will serve as an advisory board on payment data security issues in the region and helps to strengthen payment security through local engagement alongside global collaboration.
The Middle East is a growing marketplace, and the PCI SSC has been at the forefront of creating awareness and adoption of payment data security standards in that region. We are already seeing some great steps being taken to address some of the most important issues in payment data security in these regions. Industry collaboration, both domestically and globally, continues to be hugely important to help tackle the growing threat of cybercrime.
The potent combination of sharing best practices through our Participating Organization, global industry collaboration, and enhancements to payments infrastructure, all continue to help protect the growth of the payment industry and combat cybercrime. Effective implementation of PCI Standards to protect payment data can only be achieved with properly trained staff, having the right processes in place, and through the correct use of technology.
PCI SSC offers various training programs. How are these helping organizations build stronger internal cybersecurity competencies?
The PCI SSC operates programs to train, test, and qualify organizations and individuals who assess and validate compliance, to help organization successfully implement PCI standards and solutions. Completing specific PCI SSC programs (e.g., PCI Professional (PCIP) or Internal Security Assessor (ISA)) results in an official, renewable credential that is highly valued and recognized across the global payments industry.
Having staff trained and qualified by the PCI SSC (like an ISA) builds internal expertise, allowing organizations to perform more effective self-assessments, manage compliance costs, and streamline interactions with external Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) during audits. Beyond compliance, the training provides tangible, real-world insights into identifying and mitigating current cyber threats, such as phishing and ransomware, and understanding secure coding practices, which helps reduce human error and overall security risks.
With AI, tokenization, and cloud-based payment models becoming more prevalent, how is PCI SSC evolving its standards to stay ahead of innovation?
Securing payment data with data security standards in an evolving payment ecosystem is critical to build robust payments infrastructure keeping security at the centre of everything. PCI DSS v4.0.x is a unique example of how the Council is evolving security standards and validation programs to support a range of environments, technologies, and methodologies for achieving security. PCI DSS has always been technology-neutral, and requirements are intended to apply to all types of environments. Emerging technologies and innovation are reshaping our industry, along with the rise in popularity of mobile payments and contactless transactions. Our mobile payment standard, PCI Mobile Payments on COTS (MPoC v1.1) will continue to create buzz as it is a standard with significant interest around the world.
What advice would you give to financial institutions and fintech companies that are scaling rapidly but may not have mature security processes?
The PCI SSC has been and continues to be at the forefront of creating education and awareness around PCI Standards, and training industry stakeholders to understand the nuance of implementation of standards effectively. Our priorities include creating education amongst stakeholders, including but not limited to, regulators, banking and financial institutions, and service providers in the region.
Collaboration with multiple players is crucial for PCI SSC’s success. There are several ways for payment stakeholders in the region to engage with us today. It is one of our priorities that we continue to grow our Participating Organization program in the region and continue to focus on getting quality input on our standards, making sure the region can influence the evolution of the standards to meet industry requirements.
What message would you like to share with industry leaders about the importance of adhering to strong, globally recognized security frameworks like PCI DSS?
Cyber security is one of the most significant security challenges that countries face all over the world. The road to stronger payment security, through adoption of PCI DSS, involves global collaboration. Organizations should start prioritizing data security as an important element in their day- to-day business activities. Investing in cyber security is equally important. Getting employees trained and improving on cyber hygiene will help organizations take steps in the right direction.
Becoming a PCI SSC Associate Participating Organization can help better protect your organization from cybercrime by being part of a community of payment professionals. Being an APO, your organization will also have access to free and discounted training and regional events, making it a cost-effective way to invest in cybersecurity.
Looking ahead, what will be your primary areas of focus across India, South Asia, and the Middle East in the coming year?
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) is a global forum that brings together payments industry stakeholders for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage, dissemination, and implementation of security standards for account data protection. Our main objective has been to drive awareness and encourage the adoption of the PCI security standards worldwide for payment data security. We have been working closely with all those who handle payments across the India, South Asia and Middle East payment ecosystem, to not only promote PCI standards, but also help the ever-growing payments industry to focus on security.
As digital payments continue to expand across India, South Asia, and the Middle East, the path forward depends on collective responsibility, continuous education, and the adoption of globally recognized security standards. Strengthening regional ecosystems will require closer collaboration, deeper technical competency, and a shared commitment to protecting consumers and businesses alike. By driving awareness, advancing training programs, and evolving its standards in step with emerging technologies, the Council remains focused on empowering the payments industry to build a safer, more resilient future for all.
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