AWS has expanded PCI DSS compliance coverage to three additional services and three new regions in August 2025, reducing compliance overhead for merchants and offering greater deployment flexibility. This expansion, combined with the new PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements, significantly impacts how businesses should approach cloud infrastructure decisions and payment processing strategies.
Amazon Web Services has significantly strengthened its compliance footprint with the latest expansion of its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification. This certification means that customers can use these services while maintaining PCI DSS compliance, enabling innovation without compromising security, according to AWS’s official security blog.
Understanding the AWS PCI DSS Expansion
The expansion comes at a critical time when merchants are navigating the transition to PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements. As of March 31, 2025, organizations must now comply with PCI DSS v4.0.1, an update to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard that changed a number of security best practices from recommended to mandatory.
What’s New in This Expansion
AWS’s latest compliance update includes three additional services and three new regions under PCI DSS certification scope. This refreshed certification offers customers greater flexibility in deploying regulated workloads while reducing compliance overhead.
The timing of this expansion is strategic. AWS was evaluated by Coalfire, a third-party Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), ensuring that the certification meets the highest industry standards.
PCI DSS v4.0.1 Key Changes Affecting Merchants
The latest PCI DSS version introduces several mandatory requirements that were previously recommendations:
- Enhanced Authentication Requirements: Multi-factor authentication is now required for all access to cardholder data environments
- Continuous Security Monitoring: Organizations must implement real-time security monitoring and failure detection systems
- Advanced Vulnerability Management: Regular vulnerability scanning with deeper software supply chain analysis is mandatory
- Web Application Protection: Continuous protection for all public-facing web applications and APIs is required
Strategic Impact on Merchant Cloud Decisions
Reduced Compliance Overhead
The expanded AWS PCI DSS coverage directly addresses one of merchants’ biggest pain points: compliance complexity. When merchants choose AWS services within the PCI DSS scope, they can rely on AWS’s Level 1 Service Provider certification without additional infrastructure compliance testing.
For the portion of the PCI cardholder data environment (CDE) that is deployed in AWS, your Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) can rely on AWS Attestation of Compliance (AOC) without further testing.
Enhanced Deployment Flexibility
The addition of three new regions means merchants can now:
- Deploy payment processing workloads closer to their customer base
- Improve latency and user experience for payment transactions
- Meet data sovereignty requirements in additional geographic markets
- Implement disaster recovery strategies across more compliant regions
Cost-Effective Compliance Strategy
Merchants operating in AWS PCI DSS compliant services benefit from shared compliance responsibilities. Under our Shared Responsibility Model, we enable our customers to perform digital forensics investigations in their own AWS environments without requiring additional assistance from AWS.
Impact on Different Merchant Categories
Level 1 Merchants (6M+ transactions annually)
Large-scale merchants processing millions of transactions can leverage the expanded coverage to:
- Distribute workloads across multiple compliant regions for better performance
- Reduce the scope of their annual QSA audits
- Implement more sophisticated fraud detection and prevention systems
- Scale payment processing infrastructure without compliance concerns
Level 2-4 Merchants (Under 6M transactions annually)
Smaller merchants benefit through:
- Simplified Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) completion
- Lower compliance certification costs
- Access to enterprise-grade security without enterprise-level complexity
- Faster time-to-market for new payment features
Cloud Migration Acceleration
The expanded PCI DSS coverage removes a significant barrier for merchants considering cloud migration. PCI-DSS acts as a security framework around which you should build your AWS cloud data warehouse. This offers guidance and support to ensure that you are operating in a compliant manner on AWS.
Migration Benefits
Security Enhancement: Moving to AWS PCI DSS compliant infrastructure often improves security posture compared to on-premises solutions. These requirements contribute to improving the cybersecurity of your network and should be used as standard, regardless of PCI-DSS requirements.
Operational Efficiency: Cloud-based compliance monitoring tools provide real-time visibility into compliance status, reducing manual audit preparation time.
Scalability: Merchants can scale payment processing capacity during peak periods without compromising compliance.
Comparing Cloud Provider Compliance Coverage
AWS Competitive Advantages
AWS maintains the most comprehensive PCI DSS service coverage among major cloud providers. AWS is certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider, the highest level of assessment available.
Key differentiators include:
- Largest number of PCI DSS compliant services
- Most extensive global region coverage
- Comprehensive compliance documentation through AWS Artifact
- Integrated security and compliance monitoring tools
Multi-Cloud Considerations
Some enterprises adopt multi-cloud strategies for payment processing. Leading cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer tools and services designed to support PCI DSS compliance.
However, managing compliance across multiple cloud providers introduces complexity that can outweigh benefits for many merchants.
Implementation Best Practices
Network Segmentation Strategy
Proper network design is crucial for PCI DSS compliance in AWS. The Amazon VPC acts as a logically isolated segment within the AWS cloud. Virtualization allows a merchant to create a private cardholder storage network, helping meet the PCI DSS segmentation requirement.
Key implementation considerations:
- Isolate cardholder data environments using VPC private subnets
- Implement proper firewall rules through Security Groups and NACLs
- Monitor network traffic using VPC Flow Logs
- Encrypt data in transit and at rest using AWS KMS
Continuous Monitoring Implementation
PCI DSS v4.0.1 emphasizes continuous monitoring. AWS provides several tools to support this requirement:
- AWS Config: Monitors resource configurations for compliance drift
- Amazon GuardDuty: Provides threat detection and continuous security monitoring
- AWS Security Hub: Centralizes security findings and compliance status
- Amazon Inspector: Performs vulnerability assessments on applications and infrastructure
Access Control and Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is now required for all access to the cardholder data environment (CDE). AWS provides several services to support enhanced authentication:
- AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for granular access control
- AWS Single Sign-On for centralized authentication
- AWS Cognito for customer-facing authentication
- AWS Directory Service for enterprise directory integration
Economic Impact Analysis
Cost Reduction Opportunities
The expanded AWS PCI DSS coverage creates several cost reduction opportunities:
Reduced Assessment Costs: Merchants can reduce QSA assessment scope and duration by leveraging AWS’s existing compliance certifications.
Lower Infrastructure Costs: Cloud-based compliance tools eliminate the need for dedicated on-premises security appliances.
Operational Efficiency: Automated compliance monitoring reduces manual compliance management overhead.
ROI Considerations
For small businesses, the financial repercussions would hit much harder than a Fortune 500 company. When including the negative impact on your reputation, a data breach could spell the end for SMEs.
The investment in AWS PCI DSS compliant infrastructure provides measurable ROI through:
- Reduced compliance management costs
- Lower risk of data breaches and associated penalties
- Improved customer trust and retention
- Faster deployment of new payment features
Future-Proofing Your Compliance Strategy
Preparing for PCI DSS Evolution
The PCI Security Standards Council continues to evolve requirements based on emerging threats. PCI DSS v4.0 introduces significant changes that are particularly relevant to cloud computing. These changes reflect the standard’s adaptation to the evolving digital payment landscape and the growing use of the cloud for processing payment data.
Merchants should consider:
- Implementing automated compliance monitoring to quickly adapt to new requirements
- Choosing cloud services with the broadest compliance coverage
- Building security-by-design principles into payment processing systems
- Establishing regular compliance reviews and updates
Emerging Technology Integration
The expanded AWS PCI DSS coverage enables merchants to integrate emerging technologies while maintaining compliance:
- Machine Learning: Use AWS ML services for fraud detection within compliant environments
- Serverless Computing: Deploy payment processing functions using AWS Lambda
- Container Services: Implement microservices architectures using Amazon ECS and EKS
- Edge Computing: Process payments closer to customers using AWS edge locations
Decision Framework for Merchants
Evaluation Criteria
When considering AWS for PCI DSS compliance, merchants should evaluate:
- Current Compliance Status: Assess existing compliance gaps and requirements
- Transaction Volume: Determine appropriate merchant level and assessment requirements
- Geographic Reach: Consider data sovereignty and regional compliance requirements
- Technical Complexity: Evaluate internal technical capabilities and resource availability
- Budget Constraints: Analyze total cost of ownership including compliance, infrastructure, and operational costs
Migration Planning
Successful migration to AWS PCI DSS compliant infrastructure requires:
- Risk Assessment: Identify potential compliance risks during migration
- Phased Approach: Implement migration in stages to maintain continuous compliance
- Testing Strategy: Validate compliance status throughout the migration process
- Documentation: Maintain comprehensive records for audit purposes
Conclusion
AWS’s expansion of PCI DSS coverage represents a significant opportunity for merchants to simplify compliance while improving their payment processing capabilities. The combination of additional services, new regions, and alignment with PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements creates a compelling business case for cloud adoption.
The key to success lies in understanding how these changes align with your specific business requirements and implementing a comprehensive strategy that addresses both current compliance needs and future growth plans. Organizations that proactively embrace these expanded compliance options will be better positioned to compete in an increasingly digital payments landscape.
For merchants evaluating their infrastructure strategy, the expanded AWS PCI DSS coverage eliminates many traditional barriers to cloud adoption while providing the scalability, security, and compliance features necessary for modern payment processing operations.
This analysis is based on publicly available information as of August 2025. Merchants should consult with qualified security assessors and AWS compliance specialists to develop implementation strategies specific to their business requirements.
