Published by Gbaf News
Posted on December 6, 2014
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
One of the UK’s largest privately owned debt collection agencies, dlc, announces investment in Semafone’s technology for telephone payment security.
dlc, one of the largest debt collection agencies in the UK, has implemented software from Semafone® to enhance data security and give peace of mind to customers making payments over the phone.
dlc serves a diverse customer base, offering services that include outsourced credit control, litigation tracing and debt purchase as well as debt recovery. Call centres and payment processes are central to the successful provision of many of these services, so the safe and secure handling of sensitive credit and debit card details is essential for customer confidence. dlc has integrated Semafone’s technology into its Sopra banking collections system and Noble enterprise solution to enhance the security of telephone payments, reassuring end users that their payment card data will be handled securely.
The process of delivering this PCI compliant solution involved both dlc’s Qualified Security Assessor NCC and its acquiring bank, Barclaycard. Both of these organisations worked closely with Semafonein the final stages of the project to ensure a successful implementation.
Semafone’s payment method allows customers to enter card numbers directly into their telephone keypad when they make a payment over the phone. From here, the numbers are transmitted directly to the bank so no details are stored on dlc’s computers. This completely removes the contact centre from the scope of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) regulations. The keypad tones are disguised so that numbers cannot be identified by their sound, leaving the agent free to continue the conversation with the customer while the payment is made.
“Working with the dlc team we have built an extremely advanced solution, supported by a robust testing programme to ensure its smooth operation and rapid acceptance by users,” said Tim Critchley, CEO of Semafone. “dlc’s call centre has now adopted the Secured by Semafone trust mark, demonstrating to customers that their card details are safe and that they will never be asked to speak the numbers out loud.”
“Semafone’s proven experience in dealing with high volumes of card transactions, along with the industry knowledge of the Semafone team, meant that it really stood out from other solutions,” commented Steve Grima, Operations Director at dlc. “We have been able to remove our contact centre completely from PCI scope while providing our customers with absolute confidence in the security of their card transactions. Delivering a positive customer experience is at the heart of our operations and Semafone is really helping us to achieve this.”
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