Allied Bank Limited has achieved the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) v3.2.1 certification.
The PCI-DSS certification shows that ABL adheres to the highest data security standards in the payment card industry and is capable to provide security against breaches and theft of cardholder data.
Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Risk Officer of Allied Bank, Mr. Aizid Gill said that,
We are proud to have received this significant international certification, which adds to our achievements in the field of Information Security in banking. We always strive to provide the best means to ensure the security and protection of our customers’ data. As the business grows and technology advances, companies become more vulnerable to external threats and security becomes a more crucial factor. Being a PCI DSS compliant organization, allows us to offer a higher level of assurance to all our customers. Our achievement of this standard is reflected in the people, technologies, and processes we employ.
CEO of Risk Associates (PCI Qualified Security Assessors) Dr. Aftab Rizivi stated,
The professionalism and knowledge of ABL staff and the security of the systems under management is a demonstration to a sound organization. It has been a pleasure working with ABL through this certification project”, He further added that “Data security is typically a concern for banking customers making transactions over the alternate channels. The PCI DSS certification demonstrates ABL’s continued commitment to the protection and security of customer account data.
“Becoming compliant to PCI DSS is a testament that ABL’s Systems and Infrastructure meets the highest contemporary specification for security within the banking and payment card industries,” said Kashif Hassan, Director, Risk Associates
The project started somewhere in mid of 2016 and finished in 2019, this shows the professional level of Risk Associates. Congrats goes to those who started the activity not to those who are just gathered to do the photoshoot specially the CEO.
Security breaches related to payment cards have led to billion dollar losses annually. In order to offset this trend, major payment card networks have founded the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council (SSC), which has designed and released the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS). This standard guides service providers and merchants to implement stronger security infrastructures that reduce the risks of security breaches.
Is this really newsworthy? I’ve gotten 3 systems and applications PCI certified in the past year… For a bank that handles card data, this shouldn’t be viewed as an achievement, this should be viewed as bare minimum needed to comply with security standards and protecting data