TTE 2016: Syntec to debut secure keypad payment solution

TTE 2016: Syntec to debut secure keypad payment solution

Telecommunications firm Syntec will demonstrate new technology for helping make call centre card payments secure at Travel Technology Europe 2016. The CardEasy payment solution enables travel firms’ customers to enter their card numbers using the keypad of their phone.

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Telecommunications firm Syntec will demonstrate new technology for helping make call centre card payments secure at Travel Technology Europe 2016.

The CardEasy payment solution enables travel firms’ customers to enter their card numbers using the keypad of their phone.

Syntec’s integrated contact centre systems are used by travel firms including Teletext Holidays, Newmarket Holidays, Icelolly and Vertical Systems.

Syntec director Simon Beeching said take-up of the CardEasy system has so far been “phenomenal”.

“A number of other very large travel organisations and cruise companies have been referred to us recently for our CardEasy solution by the major payment gateways with which CardEasy is integrated,” he said.

“So it’s clear that the card schemes including Visa, MasterCard and American Express, are now getting tougher with the industry about resolving PCI DSS [Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard] controls in call centres, which they view as an ongoing fraud risk.

“The beauty of our CardEasy payment solution is that nearly all the required PCI controls are resolved at a stroke – the agent and call recordings can no longer see or hear the sensitive card data being transmitted for payment authorisation.”

CardEasy uses the DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) touchtones of the customer’s phone handset to integrate via Syntec with the payment gateways, so that the sensitive card numbers bypass the call centre altogether.

Beeching continued: “I’m quite sure that within three to four years customers will simply refuse to give out their card numbers over the phone if they’re asked to.

“By contrast, our own clients’ experience demonstrates immediate uptake and acceptance of this new DTMF technology, irrespective of customers’ age profile as they immediately trust it, so it is rapidly becoming the standard.

“As CardEasy can work as a hosted or cloud system it can also be implemented universally across multi-site and international operations, with whichever telephony system the merchant uses and even with their homeworkers and outsourcers.”