Encoded, a leading Payment Service Provider and pioneer of innovative secure payment solutions for contact centres and e-commerce, has announced that business process outsourcing (BPO) specialist Sigma Connected is using Agent Assisted Payments solution.
The Birmingham-headquartered BPO which started out with just 20 full-time staff in 2011 and now employs over 5,000 people in the UK, USA, Australia and South Africa, is using the Encoded solution to streamline payment processes, strengthen the organisation’s security framework and improve the agent and customer experience.
Currently, around 500 agents at Sigma Connected depend on Encoded’s Agent Assisted Payments solution to handle thousands of inbound and outbound calls every month from customers in the energy and financial services sectors. Calls relate predominantly to general customer service and early arrears enquiries.
Ian Gerleman, Chief Technology Officer at Sigma Connected commented, “We were looking for a technology partner with a proven track record in delivering fast, efficient, highly secure payment solutions. Encoded fitted our requirements perfectly. It was able to demonstrate a long and successful heritage along with the drive we need to support our growing number of blue-chip clients. Encoded offered us a very attractive package in terms of price competitiveness, performance and service value. We were confident we could trust them to help us descope our payment activities and enhance our PCI DSS compliance for these clients”
The automated technology from Encoded enables secure contact centre voice payments where customers enter their card details over the phone. They simply use their touchtone keypad to enter their card details, whilst staying connected to the Sigma Connected contact centre agent throughout the payment process. During the call, Sigma Connected’s agents are provided with real-time, on-screen feedback but are protected from viewing any sensitive card details ensuring full compliance for PCI DSS purposes.
What is more, the Encoded solution includes tokenisation, which enables card data to be stored for future payments as a token. This means that returning customers do not have to enter their card details multiple times, streamlining the payments process while simultaneously improving the customer experience (CX).
Rob Crutchington, Managing Director of Encoded said, “With card and cyber fraud on the rise, fast-growing organisations like Sigma Connected can trust us to deliver robust technology that helps them remain PCI DSS compliant while vastly enhancing the agent and customer experience. Our technology offers tremendous business value. It effortlessly bridges the gap between providing personalised customer service and boosting security, whilst reducing the often heavy, financial costs associated with non-PCI DSS compliance. Encoded really does present the best of both worlds, an all-in-one package for world-class security, CX excellence and business risk management.”
Encoded offers a range of card payment solutions designed to help organisations comply with GDPR, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Encoded’s secure payments are designed to free up valuable contact centre agent time allowing people to focus on customer service, more complex enquiries and revenue generating activities. For more information, visit Encoded.
About Sigma Connected
Sigma Connected offers a wide range of outsourced services that focus on improving the customer experience. These include customer services, collections, complaint management, sales and staff training. Some of the largest and best-known brands in the energy, financial services, retail, telecoms and water sectors benefit from the company’s bespoke and innovative customer contact solutions.
Founded in 2011 with just 20 full-time employees, Sigma today employs over 5,000 people across the world, operating offices in the UK, South Africa and Australia. In 2023, the company continued its international expansion, launching in the USA and was voted by employees as one of the Best Places to Work in the UK by The Sunday Times.
Sigma is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant. For more information, visit Sigma Connected.
About Encoded
Encoded is a leading Payment Service Provider and pioneer of innovative secure payment solutions for contact centres and e-commerce. Encoded offers various bespoke card payment solutions to help organisations comply with PCI DSS, GDPR and the newly introduced Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
Encoded’s solutions are trusted by many of the world’s leading brands, including Samsung, Lush, The Wine Society, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and many UK utility companies, such as Shell Energy and Severn Trent Water. Solutions include Agent Assisted Card Payments, E-Commerce Payments, IVR Payments, APM’s, PayByLink, Token Vault, Gateway Services & Payment Orchestration.
For more information, visit Encoded.
