In today’s digital economy, trust and security are paramount, particularly for companies handling sensitive payment data. At Andaria, our commitment to providing the highest standards of security is at the core of everything we do. This is why obtaining PCI DSS Level 1 certification was a major milestone for our company, enabling us to offer enhanced card solutions within our Embedded Finance offering.
PCI DSS and Its Importance in the Financial Industry
PCI DSS is considered to be the gold standard for security when collecting, handling, and processing data related to payment cards, and provides key recommendations for organisations to implement within their processes and infrastructure to make them secure and to protect the sensitive data they process and store.
For those of you not involved in the financial services industry and who therefore may not be familiar with this standard, PCI DSS stands for the “Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard” and was developed by the main global payment card schemes (e.g. Mastercard, Discover, VISA, etc.) to ensure that the payment cards network was kept as safe and secure as possible by imposing security requirements on anyone handling card data.
Andaria’s Commitment to Security and PCI DSS Certification
At Andaria, we are serious about security and consider it to be one of our three company pillars. This is why, as part of the roll-out of our Cards product, we set out to achieve Level 1 compliance against PCI DSS, in order to provide that assurance for ourselves and our partners and customers that we are going above and beyond to keep their payment card data safe. This includes the implementation of encryption mechanisms, access control measures, multi-factor authentication, security by design techniques, malware and vulnerability detection and response, and more.
Achieving PCI DSS compliance was not merely a checkbox exercise for us; it was a reflection of the deep commitment we have towards safeguarding our clients’ data. We believe that embedding these principles in the foundations of our product offerings makes our solutions more robust and trustworthy. Our membership with Mastercard and Discover further underscores the confidence our partners have in our capabilities, allowing us to issue payment cards with world-class security as part of our Embedded Finance solutions.
The Journey to Certification: A Testament to Collaboration and Security
The journey to achieving this milestone was not an easy one and took a lot of hard work, time, and dedication from internal teams, but we are proud of what we have been able to achieve in a relatively short amount of time. The dedication from everyone involved, including senior management and the Board, is a true testament to the importance that the institution places on Security. Additionally, having an already strong security structure in place through buy-in from all departments and a dedicated Information Security team means that the journey was made smoother than it would have been in a more traditional organisation.
Continuous Commitment to Security
We are constantly looking at how and what we can do to improve our security posture in order to keep Andaria, its people and its clients as safe and secure as possible in this ever-evolving world and threat landscape.
Our journey does not stop here. As we expand our card issuance services and refine our Embedded Finance products, we will continue to place security at the forefront. We understand that in a rapidly changing digital world, the ability to adapt and strengthen defences is critical for long-term success.
