du becomes the first telecommunications service provider in the MENA region to achieve PCI-DSS Compliance Across All Its Payment Channels And Data Centre Hosting Services

du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), continues to provide innovative digitalised services that create secure e-commerce environments for its customers. du’s payment channels – comprising of du stores, Payment Gateway, IVR, voice calls, du mobile app, myaccount.du.ae, WiFi UAE, du Dealer Sales Portal are now Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DDS) accredited – which is an endorsement of the security of transactions and customer data. The announcement will enhance the lives of du customers with highly secure credit cards and debit cards belonging to the 5 major card issuers: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and Discover.

Fahad Al Hassawi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Telco Services, EITC said: “With the rapid proliferation of e-commerce and a more digitalised world, it is imperative that electronic transactions are secure. The PCI-DSS accreditation bears testament to du’s commitment to adhering to the highest standards of transparency and integrity at all times and across all its operations , thus, paving for the UAE to become a forerunner in the provision of simple and secure electronic payments. PCI-DSS Compliance means that our customers can conveniently make electronic payments through various channels with complete peace of mind – knowing that their data is fully secure and tamper-proof.”

du is one of the few companies in the lead which has obtained PCI DSS compliance certification in the UAE for all its payment channels as well as data centre hosting services in Dubai  & , Abu Dhabi. With this latest compliance, du customer’s cardholder data is protected from theft and misuse when used on the du payment channels. Furthermore, du has systems and processes in place to respond to any cardholder data breaches that limit the extent of theft and misuse of cardholder data. As such, PCI DSS compliance requires mandatory activities to be undertaken by du staff on regular basis, and requires certification every year.

PCI DSS stands for “Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard” which provides many benefits to card merchants around the world. It is maintained and enforced globally by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. The Council was founded in 2006 by Visa Inc., MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB International. These card schemes share equally in governance and execution of the Council’s work. The security benefits associated with maintaining PCI compliance are vital to the long-term success of all merchants who process card payments. This includes continual identification of threats and vulnerabilities that could potentially impact the organisation. Most organisations never fully recover from data breaches because the loss is greater than the data itself.