First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB) has just been certified as a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) compliant financial institution.
This is in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directives on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) operations aimed at combating card fraud in the country and entrench the cashless policy.
The FCMB certification brings to four the number of banks that have achieved this feat in Nigeria.
The PCIDSS is an information security standard for institutions that handles card holders’ information for the major debit, credit and prepaid cards in addition to electronic purse, ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) terminals.
It is a standard endorsed, adopted and increasingly required by the major card brands including Visa, MasterCard and others.
In a statement, FCMB said the attainment of the prestigious PCIDSS certification is yet another testament to its value proposition of enhanced security for customers’ funds and, “building greater trust in our electronics and card payment services”.
The Bank’s Group Head, Information Technology, Emeka Eboegbune, informed that in achieving this feat, “we had to implement a number of new processes, technologies and tools and these were done in a record 5-month timeframe which is a validation of the bank’s industry leadership in e-payment and compliance with best practice.”
Analysts are of the opinion that the attainment of the PCIDSS will enhance FCMB’s customer trust and thus engender greater patronage as it will reduce card fraud, boost the Bank’s brand and image as a reliable institution.
