A Yorkshire tech company which is helping to lead the fight against fraudsters is setting its sights on a quintet of national accolades after developing a software solution aimed at helping businesses to combat telephone payment fraud.
Rotherham-based Gala Technology which pioneered SOTpay, an innovative payment gateway system enabling businesses to process payments using similar levels of security standards found in most banks, has been shortlisted in three categories at the prestigious Computing Security Excellence Awards, where the unique system will go head-to-head with some of the UK's best known businesses in the tech sector including BT and Microsoft.
Gala Technology has also been shortlisted at the National UK IT industry awards, where it is hoping to impress judges in the category of IT Innovation of the Year. Both awards ceremonies will take place in London next month.
Last month, the company was awarded the title of Best Innovation in Payments Solutions by Corporate Livewire in recognition of the work undertaken through SOTpay to help prevent payment fraud.
SOTpay is a unique system which was pioneered after sister company Gala Tent became a target of the fraudsters, costing the business thousands of pounds fraudulent orders. Company founder Jason Mace began looking for payment systems which could help reduce the company's risk to fraud, and after discovering an off-the-shelf solution wasn't available, the company chose to invest in developing one.
It has taken more than two years to develop and refine SOTpay and after successfully eliminating all fraudulent transaction attempts within Gala Tent, the company is hoping to roll out the technology, aiming to prevent others from falling victim to the fraudsters.
The system provides businesses with a PCI DSS compliant solution which uses an encrypted gateway to process payment transactions. Unlike many payment systems personal customer details aren't stored, meaning the information is useless to telephone scammers or hackers.
To date, SOTpay has attracted considerable interest from businesses large and small.
"Fraud is an issue which affects almost every business in the UK, and the numbers of companies falling victim are rising. Between January and June an attempted scam took place once every fifteen seconds – and the amount of money lost to the British economy, as a result of fraud, this year is expected to be highest on record.
"The Computing Security Excellence Awards is one of the most highly regarded accolades in the industry. To be shortlisted in three separate categories perhaps goes some way towards illustrating the significance of the technology we have developed, and the implications it may have in the ongoing fight against fraud.
"We have developed a unique, affordable product that negates telephone fraud, reduces bank charges and ensures PCI DSS compliance which will help companies combat this ever growing problem, which effects almost every business."