Miele

Miele is a leading premium domestic and commercial appliances manufacturer. This case study explains how it is using the CardEasy secure keypad payment by phone system in order to descope its call centre and call recordings from PCI DSS requirements.

The challenge

Miele was originally considering a premise-based touchtone payment (DTMF) system to de-scope its call center environment and call recordings from PCI DSS regulations,  with its agents still taking payments from customers in mid-conversation.

The CardEasy solution

  • The fully-hosted version of the CardEasy keypad payment by phone solution turned out to be more attractive for Miele, because the sensitive card data never enters the call center environment, thus reducing PCI DSS compliance requirements almost to nil with just a minimal self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) to complete
  • The hosted CardEasy solution proved quick and easy to trial and subsequently deploy with no new equipment needed (as it integrates with existing phones and payment systems on an SaaS basis)
  • CardEasy was integrated with Mieleโ€™s payment gateway for easy trial and rollout (CardEasy is now integrated with nearly all major PSPs on behalf of Syntecโ€™s CardEasy clients)
  • As an Ofcom-regulated telecommunications provider, Syntec was also able to give Miele expert advice on integrating CardEasy into its existing infrastructure, with recommendations such as the option to change phone numbers to generate revenue-share from call charges where appropriate

Results

Miele achieved PCI DSS level 1 with mid-call secure payment; improved transaction speed and customer service; and with no capital expenditure outlay.

Miele is so satisfied with the CardEasy system that it is now integrating this with Syntecโ€™s AgentCall contact center management solutions across its operations.

  • 95% of transactions went through CardEasy on day 1 of launch, with no age barrier to take up
  • Shorter call times due to one less process (of agent taking card numbers before entering them)
  • Less miskeying results due to this removed process too

Examples of Miele customer feedback

โ€œThatโ€™s a good idea โ€“ itโ€™s nice to know my card details are kept safeโ€

โ€œI wish more companies handled my card security this wayโ€

Examples of Agent feedback

โ€œQuick and simple, easy to go through with the customer, faster than taking card numbers and more secureโ€

โ€œGreat for the majority of calls, a few calls require special handling, but this was always the caseโ€

  • "Miele selected Syntecโ€™s pioneering, hosted CardEasy system to enrich customer service whilst de-scoping us from large sections of PCI DSS regulations, which otherwise require significant cost and effort to satisfy."