How do I ensure my ticket sales workflow with a ticketing platform is PCI compliant?

To keep a ticket sales workflow PCI compliant, the main goal is to minimize or eliminate your handling of cardholder data and use PCI-compliant payment methods and partners.

Practical checklist

1) Use a PCI-compliant ticketing/payment provider

• Choose a platform that is PCI DSS validated and can provide evidence of compliance.
• Prefer platforms that use:
  • Hosted checkout pages
  • Redirect-to-pay flows
  • Embedded payment fields / tokenization from a validated provider
• Ask for their:
  • PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance (AOC)
  • SAQ guidance for your specific setup

2) Avoid storing card data yourself

Do not store:

• Primary Account Numbers (full card numbers)
• CVV/CVC
• Magnetic stripe data
• PIN data

If you need recurring charges or refunds, use:

• Tokens returned by the payment processor
• A vaulted payment method managed by the provider

3) Keep your systems out of scope where possible

The more card data touches your systems, the more PCI scope you take on. To reduce scope:

• Send customers directly to the payment provider’s hosted page
• Avoid handling raw card data in your website, CRM, support tools, or logs
• Don’t let card data pass through your servers, even briefly, if you can avoid it

4) Secure the rest of your environment

Even if you outsource payments, PCI still expects good security hygiene:

• Use HTTPS/TLS everywhere
• Keep systems patched
• Use strong access controls and MFA
• Restrict admin access by role
• Log and monitor access
• Change default passwords and disable unused accounts
• Use malware protection where appropriate
• Segment systems that might be in PCI scope

5) Make sure vendors are compliant too

If you use:

• Ticketing software
• CRM
• Email tools
• Analytics
• Chat widgets
• Support desk tools

Verify they do not capture card data or inject scripts into payment pages in a way that increases your scope.

6) Don’t put card data in tickets, emails, or support notes

Train staff not to ask for or record card numbers by:

• Email
• Chat
• Voice notes
• Help desk forms
• Internal documents

If customers need help paying, direct them to the secure payment flow.

7) Complete the right PCI validation

Your required validation depends on your setup:

• SAQ A: Usually if you use a fully outsourced hosted payment page and never touch card data
• SAQ A-EP: Often if your website affects the payment page but doesn’t directly process card data
• Other SAQs or a full ROC may apply if you store/process/transmit card data yourself

A PCI assessor or your payment provider can help determine the correct Self-Assessment Questionnaire.

8) Keep evidence and documentation

Maintain:

• PCI compliance certificates/AOCs from vendors
• Network diagrams and data-flow diagrams
• Policies and procedures
• Asset inventory
• Incident response plan
• Staff training records

Best-practice architecture

The safest pattern is usually:

1. Customer selects tickets on your site
2. Site redirects to a PCI-compliant hosted checkout page
3. Payment provider processes card data and returns a token/result
4. Your system stores only the transaction reference and token, not the card number

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using forms that post card data to your own server
• Saving card numbers “temporarily” in logs or database fields
• Allowing browser analytics/session replay tools on payment pages
• Copy/pasting card details into notes
• Using non-compliant plugins or custom scripts on checkout pages

Bottom line

To stay PCI compliant, don’t touch cardholder data unless you absolutely must, and when you do, use a PCI-validated provider, tokenization, secure transmission, and formal PCI validation matched to your workflow.

If you want, I can help you map your exact ticketing setup to the likely PCI scope (for example, hosted checkout vs embedded checkout vs custom payment forms).