Eckoh Technologies Regulatory News (ECK)

Eckoh plc

("Eckoh" or the "Group")

Eckoh signs 5-year contract renewal with Capita worth £2.1m

Payment security and advanced speech recognition technology increase revenue collection

Innovative enhancements improve the customer experience, driving increased satisfaction

Eckoh, the global provider of customer engagement security solutions, is delighted to announce the renewal of its contract with Capita for a large public sector organisation. The core purpose of the service provided by Capita to its client is to maximise the successful collection of payments from the general public. The new contract is for 5 years and has a minimum value of £2.1m over the term, which is both longer and higher value than the original agreement.

Since 2018, Eckoh has been supporting Capita and its client by handling all inbound calls to the contact centre, securing telephone and automated payments, and delivering advanced self-service automation to improve the customer experience and increase the proportion of successfully collected revenue. The renewal and extension of this contract is testament to Capita's ongoing confidence in Eckoh's expertise and product solutions and its drive to continually deliver a better customer experience.

Capita's challenges from the outset have been to reduce customer service costs, increase the number of successful payments and comply fully with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard ("PCI DSS") without compromising the quality of customer service.

In response, Eckoh delivered its unique and patented payment technology - CallGuard - which secures telephone payments made via contact centre agents, while the EckohPAY solution enables the same security for payments made within the automated voice solution. Eckoh's advanced natural language self-service and intelligent call routing delivers accurate speech recognition to enable calls to be routed to the right place, first time - whether that's an agent or a self-service facility. These extra options enable the client to offer self-service for change of address, secure payments, account updates and other tasks without involving an agent. This reduces customer service costs whilst offering customers flexibility in how they manage their account.

This simpler and more flexible customer experience has led to a significant increase in revenue collection and improved customer satisfaction, while Capita's entire contact centre has now been de-scoped from the rigours and cost of full PCI DSS compliance.

Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer at Eckoh commented: "Capita is a longstanding and highly valued partner, so we're delighted to be renewing this significant contract for another 5 years, which follows the 6 year contract renewal worth £4m we signed with them for the congestion charge in 2020.

Eckoh's comprehensive technology portfolio means we are uniquely placed to provide a full suite of customer engagement solutions that are underpinned by market leading security. We can help organisations to meet today's contact centre security challenges and support them in delivering on their digital transformation initiatives."

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About Eckoh plc

Eckoh is a global provider of customer engagement security solutions, supporting an international client base from its offices in the UK and US.

Our secure payments products help our clients take payments securely from their customers through multiple channels. The products, which include the patented CallGuard, can be hosted in the Cloud or deployed on the client's site and remove sensitive personal and payment data from contact centres and IT environments. They offer merchants a simple and effective way to reduce the risk of fraud, secure sensitive data and become compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards ("PCI DSS") and wider data security regulations. Eckoh has been a PCI DSS Level One Accredited Service Provider since 2010, securing over $5bn in payments annually.

Eckoh's customer contact solutions enable enquiries and transactions to be performed on whatever device the customer chooses, allowing organisations to increase efficiency, lower operational costs and provide a true Omnichannel experience. We also assist organisations in transforming the way that they engage with their customers by providing support and transition services as they implement our innovative customer contact solutions.

Our large portfolio of clients come from a broad range of vertical markets and includes government departments, telecoms providers, retailers, utility providers and financial services organisations.