What is the Account Information Security (AIS) program?
Account Information Security, or AIS, is a Risk Management program designed to protect sensitive account and transaction information in the Visa payment system. It protects the interests of all payment participants, including Visa issuers and acquirers, merchants and cardholders – in both the physical and virtual worlds. In 2004, the AIS requirements were incorporated into an industry standard known as Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards, or PCI DSS, resulting from a co-operative effort between Visa and the other major payment card brands to create common industry security requirements. Effective September 2006, the PCI Security Standards Council (“PCI SSC”) owns, maintains and distributes the PCI DSS and all its supporting documents. However, Visa maintains the AIS program as the managing program for data security (based on PCI DSS) compliance enforcement and validation initiatives.
