Allus Global Wins PCI Certificate for its Card Processing Methods

Allus Global BPO says that it has obtained PCI DSS certification, an industry standard that certifies that the call center operator has the right measures in place to process sensitive debit and credit card details.

Defined by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, the standard is designed to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce credit card fraud. Trustwave, a security assessor in Colombia authorized by the PCI Council, conducted validation of compliance on Allus.

During the test, the assessor ensured that the call center servers containing recordings of credit card numbers are kept inside the firewall.

PCI, in other words, is the short-code name for a comprehensive set of rules that govern just how credit card handlers should protect card information and the privacy of cardholders. Contact centers that deal with payments, billing and collections, are naturally prime candidates to adopt PCI.

Allus, which merged with Contax a couple of years ago, is one the biggest call center service providers in Latin America, with significant operations in South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. With a combined workforce of more than 120,000, Allus and Contax provide voice-based BPO service in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

“Achieving PCI certification is an important step in the ongoing quest of Allus to deliver to our customers the peace of mind of information systems,” stated Jose Mejia, Director of Technology of Allus. “With this certification, Allus becomes a benchmark in the region for the safe handling of credit card information.”

The BPO provider said the PCI certification was just part of its effort to minimize the risk of fraud and ensure controls on all elements of card processing.

The PCI Council is made up of American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard and VISA, and they issue guidelines for card processing.  The nearshore call center industry started a PCI compliance program in June 2009 and has since spent millions of dollars in consultation fee to make sure that it is securely processing credit card details.