What is Service providers ......?

Service providers

Service providers are organisations that process, store or transmit Visa cardholder data on behalf of Visa clients, merchants or other service providers.

Both issuers and acquirers must use service providers that are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). They are also responsible for ensuring that they and their merchants use such providers. Although there may not be a direct contractual relationship between merchant service providers and acquirers, Visa issuers and acquirers are responsible for any liability that may occur as a result of non-compliance.

We maintain a list of PCI DSS validated service providers to help you locate a validated service provider in Europe. Download the PCI DSS Validated Service Providers List or find out more about submission and validation procedures.
Service provider levels

Service providers are split into two levels based on the volume of annual Visa transactions. Service provider levels are defined as:
Level one

Visa System processors or any service provider that stores, processes and/or transmits more than 300,000 Visa transactions annually.
Level two

Any service provider that stores, processes and/or transmits less than 300,000 Visa transactions annually.

Only level one service providers appear on our PCI DSS Validated Service Provider List (PDF 0.35MB)

Sources by : www.visaeurope.com