The Charity Technology Trust (CTT) has partnered with BT to offer charities the first automated system for collecting credit or debit card details via telephone that is certified as tier-one compliant with the card payment industry's data security standards.

From 1 July 2010 all charities will be required to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), which provides explicit guidelines for collecting, batching, storing and processing credit and debit card payments.

BT SafePay is a dedicated interactive voice response (IVR) system which works with CTT’s CP Terminal card payment processing system and which is fully compliant with these guidelines.

It also enables charities and other organisations to avoid the expense of using call centres and guarantees that every call is answered.

The system allows donors to register for gift aid and ensures that once money is pledged, the payment is authorised and deposited with the charity within 48 hours.

Launched by agilemedia, BT’s wholesale interactive communications and payments division, the IVR platform has already been used successfully by the likes of BBC Children in Need and the Disaster Emergency Committee’s Haiti appeal.

“Every missed call or human error is very costly and there is always the risk of card fraud when card details are being given over the telephone,” said James Redhead, development director at CTT.

“BT SafePay will significantly reduce the costs of collecting telephone donations and ensure the supporter's card information is secure.”  

He added that while call centre agencies typically charge up to £5 per transaction for their services, BT will be looking to charge a maximum of £1.