Which technical integration strategy minimizes PCI compliance burdens when accepting credit card payments via PayPal?

The technical integration strategy that minimizes PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance burdens when accepting credit card payments via PayPal is using PayPal's Hosted Payment Pages or a similar redirect method. With Hosted Payment Pages, the customer is redirected to PayPal's secure server to enter their credit card information directly on PayPal's site. The merchant's website never directly handles or stores any sensitive cardholder data. This significantly reduces the scope of PCI compliance because the merchant is not directly involved in the processing or storage of credit card information, effectively outsourcing the PCI DSS responsibility to PayPal. Because the card data is handled entirely within PayPal's PCI-compliant environment, the merchant can qualify for a much simpler PCI DSS validation level, such as a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) A, which requires fewer security controls than if the merchant were directly handling credit card data. Any time you process, store, or transmit cardholder data, PCI DSS standards are applicable. This method greatly reduces merchant responsibility.