Prudential Bank has attained the internationally recognised PCI DSS certification (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) thus providing a safe and secure environment for its customers to undertake their card transactions.

The PCI DSS is a comprehensive set of security standards developed by the PCI Security Standard Council to protect debit, credit, prepaid and cash card transactions and to prevent the misuse of cardholder information. It is a global standard for maintaining a secure payment card data environment for organisations that process, store or transmit credit, debit, or prepaid card data.
Compliance with PCI DSS is required by the international card brands and also by Bank of Ghana.

Commenting on the new feat chalked by the indigenous bank, the Managing Director, Mr John K. Addo, expressed his delight about the Bank’s momentous achievement.

He said that Prudential Bank has over the years, strengthened its information security in line with the PCI DSS requirements to provide customers with the highest quality of service.

He further said that as the card payment landscape continues to evolve, the Bank has continued to invest heavily in developing its information and risk management systems and practices to strengthen its information security, risk mitigation, data protection and control processes.
The PCI-DSS certification represents an important milestone for data security in the bank’s day-to-day operations. It is expected to improve the Bank’s information securitypostureand minimise exposure to risks by the implementation of necessary controls in procedures, processes and systems.

Mr Addo said, the Bank took a positive step forward earlier this year on the attainment of the ISO 27001 certification, and he further emphasised the importance to the Bank of privacy protection, data security and compliance with global best practice.

“This certification is a testament to our commitment to making our customers’ data protection our utmost priority,” he said.

Throwing more light on the relevance of the PCI DSS, Mr Solomon Torson, the Chief Information Security Officer of the Bank said, “PCI DSS covers security management policies, procedures, network architecture, software design, and other measures for protecting sensitive information related to payment cards in order to reduce risk of payment card data loss. This enhances customer confidence and improves the Bank’s reputation with acquirers and payment brands; Prudential Bank’s attainment of this certification means that the Bank’s systems are secure, and customers can trust us with their sensitive payment card information.”