Achieving the highest level of PCI-DSS compliance enables the company to provide highly secure, end-to-end delivery of banking and payment services through its award-winning online and mobile banking platforms.

ie already offered PCI-DSS compliance solutions for selected clients, however, the internationally recognised Level 1 standard means that ie can support a wider breadth of banking and payment services. This is a key step in the company's business growth plans as the global demand for mobile financial services moves from purely information-based to richer, transaction-based functionality.

As part of the compliance programme, which took six months to complete, new hosting facilities were commissioned, more than 30 PCI-related policies were written and implemented, and an information security officer hired, demonstrating ie's level of commitment to enhancing and maintaining its compliance standards. Since achieving Level 1 status, two customers have gone live with their solutions running on ie's new PCI-compliant managed service.

Andy Sloman, director of operations at ie, commented: "Receiving the highest level of PCI-DSS certification reflects our pledge to achieving internationally recognised compliance standards, and delivering the best quality of service to our customers not only in the UK but around the world. It is vital that clients have complete confidence in the products and services they are signing up for. This independent accreditation of our managed service enables us to provide the highest level of compliance that is required by our growing customer base."