Allpay has completed the roll-out of ‘call masking’ software at Newydd Housing for its 6,000 tenants’ rental payments.
Developed by PCI payments specialist Eckoh and implemented by Allpay, the call-masking software enables PCI DSS compliance by enabling tenants to key their card details into their phones without the need for Newydd’s contact centre staff having to pause and resume their call recordings.
Bill Barker, customer services officer, Newydd Housing, said, “We have used Allpay’s Callpay solution to take rental payments for some years. However, with changes to the data protection regulations, we wanted more protection for our tenants and staff and needed to upgrade to a more compliant solution.
“For an organisation the size of Newydd Housing, the cost and complexity of becoming a ‘level one’ PCI service provider would be prohibitive. However, the call-masking module from Allpay and Eckoh has been an economical and efficient answer, with Eckoh taking all responsibility for PCI DSS compliance.
“Previously, callers would read out the ‘long card number’ on their credit or debit cards while staff paused and resumed call recordings. This was secure up to a point, but we also wanted to remove any risk of tenants being overheard if they were in a public place or the possibility of human error when staff entered the card details.
“As well as masking the card numbers, the new system enables our staff and tenants to stay in contact for the duration of the call. Calls are still recorded while users key in their card details, but their card information is not captured so the entire call can be recorded, resulting in a better overall customer experience and reduced call handling times.”
Tony Porter, head of global marketing, Eckoh, said, “Crime targeting ‘card not present’ transactions is growing fast and criminals are increasingly turning their attention to contact centres. With our system, only the first six and last four digits of the card number and expiry date are displayed to the agent, while all other numbers are masked on the screen.
“The DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency) tones entered by the customer on their phone are replaced by flat tones before they enter the contact centre environment, so that calls can still be recorded with no data protection issues. We have supplied our solution through Allpay for more than two years and it now securely processes hundreds of thousands of calls a year on behalf of housing providers across the UK.”
