IPPlus is pleased to announce that IP3 Telecom, its network telephony division, has concluded its first contracts for its new card payments by phone product, PCI-PAL.
PCI-PAL enables customers to directly enter credit card numbers using their telephone keypad whilst in conversation with a call centre agent. Call centre agents do not hear or see the card information, but remain on the line for the customer whilst the card is processed and the payment authorised. In this way the credit card details pass directly to the credit card processor and never enter the call centre system or database thus offering complete security.
The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (the "Council"), which was set up in 2006 by the major credit card brands, namely Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and Discovery. The Council published the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard to regulate how sensitive credit card information is processed and stored as it is estimated that credit card fraud costs the industry in excess of £450 million each year in the UK alone. Contact centres come under particular focus for this standard as they are a business sector where fraudulent activity is higher than others.
IP3Telecom has achieved the highest level of security compliance, being recognised by Visa Europe as a Level 1 Service Provider and have been published on their official list of secure trustworthy companies.
This new service is a hosted call centre service for telephone credit card payments. IP3 Telecom will be responsible for expanding the direct and re-seller channels whilst distributing PCI-PAL to existing clients and call centre partners. The advantages of a secure cloud based solution over that of a premise based system are scalability, reliability, and the cost benefits of low capital expenditure. PCI-PAL is easily integrated into existing call centre systems.
William Catchpole, Chief Executive Officer, commented "It has been a technically involved and complicated exercise in order to secure Level 1 Service Provider status for PCI-PAL. By achieving this highest level of compliance, a new and important market has opened up for us."
For further details, please contact:
IPPlus plc +44 844 544 6800
William Catchpole - Chief Executive Officer
R Stuart Gordon - Chief Financial Officer
N+1 Brewin (NOMAD & Broker)
Robert Beenstock +44 20 3201 3710
