Al Hilal Bank , a progressive Islamic 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. 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 Bank 's compliance with the standard will be validated annually by an independent Qualified Security Assessor. Certification under PCI-DSS affirms that Al Hilal Bank 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. "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. Compliance also reflects our focus on technology and benchmarking to gain a competitive industry edge, from operational and service perspectives," said Mohamed Jamil Berro, Group CEO, Al Hilal Bank . "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," Berro added. Al Hilal Bank was established in 2008 as a fully owned entity of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council -the investment authority of the Government of Abu Dhabi. It operates 22 strategically located branches in the UAE and three overseas branches in Kazakhstan. Al Hilal recently became the first Islamic bank in the country, and among the top three in the world, to receive an A1 rating from Moody's Investors Service and an A+ rating from Fitch Ratings.
