The Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard was created by the credit card industry to protect the viability of their brand.

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The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Counsel has established a set of data compliance standards that all retailers should follow.

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Compare policies to various compliance regimes such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and generate reports for audits.

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InsideFacebook recently cited Guy Rom, a Facebook engineering manager who works on Credits, as saying that the Facebook currency is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant.

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And, in the payments industry, self-policing is in place through the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) which, while not a federal law, has become law in some states.

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To gird against this, the major credit-card companies in 2006 formed an industry group called the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, which establishes minimum technical protections for businesses that accept credit cards.

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He asks the chief executive of the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs), which represents the credit card industry, what the banks are thinking of lending money to people who will never be able to afford to pay it back.

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