Abu Dhabi-based Islamic lender Al Hilal Bank has announced that it has been certified under the international Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

This assures customers that the bank has world-class measures in place to safeguard cardholder data and help prevent card fraud via its exposure, said the bank in a statement.

PCI-DSS provides stringent guidelines for establishing a robust payment card data security process that covers prevention, detection and quick and effective response. Al Hilal's compliance with the standard will be validated annually by an independent Qualified Security Assessor, it stated.

Certification under PCI-DSS affirms that Al Hilal maintains a consistently high level of information security which helps keep the critical payment card data of its patrons safe from breaches during each and every transaction.

It also enhances the bank’s reputation with other card-issuing banks and payment brands that help Al Hilal Bank carry out its business and continue to pursue strong growth, the statement added.

"As a bank, it is critical for us to gain the trust and confidence of our customers and partners. Our certification under PCI-DSS marks a major step in this regard, especially as we offer progressive, innovative Islamic services that need to be constantly protected from information breaches and other threats," remarked Mohamed Jamil Berro, the Group CEO of Al Hilal Bank.

"Compliance also reflects our focus on technology and benchmarking to gain a competitive industry edge, from operational and service perspectives," Berro stated.

“The road to PCI-DSS compliance was very challenging and involved the hard work of many teams. We commend our Information Security, IT and Business Continuity teams in particular for their exceptional efforts in making this achievement possible,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service