Why Contact Centres Look for PCI Pal Alternatives
PCI Pal is a good product for what it was built to do: DTMF tone masking for single-merchant contact centres. It integrates with major CCaaS platforms (Amazon Connect, Genesys, Five9), it carries PCI DSS Level 1 certification, and it keeps agents from hearing card data.
But PCI Pal — along with Eckoh and Sycurio — was designed for a specific architecture: one contact centre, one PSP, one brand. When your requirements go beyond that, the limitations compound.
Contact centres and BPOs look for alternatives when they hit one or more of these walls:
Per-Seat Pricing at Scale
PCI Pal and Eckoh charge per agent seat. For a 200-seat contact centre, that's a fixed monthly cost regardless of how many payments those agents actually process. During quiet periods, you're paying the same as peak months. For BPOs with variable headcount across campaigns, per-seat pricing creates cost volatility that doesn't correlate with revenue.
Per-transaction pricing — where you pay only when a payment is processed — aligns cost with value. A quiet week costs less. A peak day scales without renegotiating licences.
Single-PSP Architecture
PCI Pal integrates with a limited set of payment gateways. For a single-merchant contact centre that processes everything through one PSP, this is fine.
For a BPO handling payments for multiple clients, it's a blocker. Client A uses Worldpay. Client B uses Stripe. Client C has a Braintree account with negotiated rates. Client D's creditors mandate a specific processor. A solution that supports one or two gateways can't serve this portfolio through a single integration.
Voice-Only Coverage
PCI Pal, Eckoh, and Sycurio are primarily voice solutions — DTMF masking during live calls. They don't natively support:
Payment links sent via SMS or email during or after a call
Chat payments for digital customer service channels
AI agent payment capture for autonomous voice or chat bots
Contact centres are increasingly multi-channel. A customer might start on chat, escalate to voice, and receive a payment link by SMS. A solution that only covers one of those channels means integrating multiple vendors — with separate PCI surfaces, separate reporting, and separate maintenance.
Limited White-Label
For BPOs that position payment collection as their own branded capability, PCI Pal and Eckoh's branding appearing in the payment flow undermines the proposition. White-label — where the payment experience carries the BPO's or the end-client's branding — is table stakes for outsourcers selling payment services.
No Multi-Tenant Architecture
BPOs need a payment system that knows which client each call belongs to and routes payments accordingly — different PSP, different branding, different merchant account. Traditional DTMF solutions require separate configurations per merchant, often involving professional services to set up each one. A multi-tenant payment layer handles this by design.
The Alternatives
1. Eckoh
What it is: The UK's largest contact centre payment provider. Eckoh's CallGuard product provides DTMF masking and secure IVR payment capture. Deep roots in telecoms, strong enterprise presence.
Revenue: £37.2M (FY24), 84% recurring.
Strengths:
Largest installed base in UK contact centres
Deep integrations with legacy and modern telephony
CallGuard DTMF masking is mature and reliable
Strong compliance credentials — long track record with regulated industries
Limitations:
Enterprise-heavy. Long sales cycles, complex procurement. Not designed for mid-market or fast-moving BPOs.
Primarily voice. Limited digital payment channels (payment links, chat).
Per-seat pricing. Same cost model issue as PCI Pal.
Single-PSP focus. Not built for multi-client, multi-PSP routing.
Legacy architecture. Telecoms heritage means the platform evolved from on-prem to cloud, rather than being cloud-native.
Best for: Large enterprise contact centres with a single PSP, established procurement processes, and primarily voice-based payment flows.
2. Sycurio (formerly Semafone)
What it is: Cloud-based DTMF masking and secure digital payments. Modern platform, good mid-market presence. Rebranded from Semafone.
Revenue: £18.8M (FY21).
Strengths:
Modern, cloud-native platform
DTMF masking plus some digital payment capabilities
Good mid-market fit — faster sales cycles than Eckoh
Expanding into digital channels
Limitations:
Narrower integration set than Eckoh — fewer CCaaS platform connectors
Limited multi-PSP support. Still oriented toward single-merchant use cases.
Per-seat/per-transaction hybrid pricing. Better than pure per-seat but still not purely usage-based.
White-label is limited. Not designed for BPOs reselling payment capability under their own brand.
Best for: Mid-market single-merchant contact centres wanting a modern DTMF solution with some digital capability.
3. Paytia
What it is: SMB-focused DTMF suppression for payment by phone. Simple, affordable, quick to set up.
Strengths:
Affordable — from £0.10 per transaction
Simple setup — self-serve for small operations
Per-transaction pricing (aligned with BPO needs)
Quick to deploy
Limitations:
Limited scale. Not designed for enterprise or large BPO deployments.
Single-PSP. Connects to a limited set of gateways.
Voice only. No payment links, chat, or AI agent support.
No multi-tenant architecture. Each merchant is a separate configuration.
Less brand recognition. Smaller company with fewer enterprise reference customers.
Best for: Small call answering services or single-operator businesses that need affordable phone payment capture.
4. Twilio \<Pay\>
What it is: DTMF payment capture built into Twilio's Voice API. Captures card details during a call and processes through a connected PSP.
Strengths:
Native to Twilio — no third-party overlay for Twilio-based contact centres
Developer-friendly API
Per-transaction pricing
Limitations:
Twilio-only. Only works on Twilio infrastructure. If your contact centre runs on Genesys, Five9, or NICE, this isn't an option.
Requires development. No pre-built agent interface. Your engineering team builds the payment flow.
Limited PSP support. Connects to Stripe and a handful of others — not 40+ gateways.
No white-label merchant portal. No dashboard for clients to view their payment activity.
No payment links or chat payments. Voice DTMF only.
Best for: Twilio-native contact centres with engineering resources that need basic DTMF capture and are comfortable building the UX.
5. Multi-PSP Payment Layer (Shuttle)
What it is: A payment infrastructure layer built for platforms, BPOs, and contact centres that need multi-PSP, multi-channel, multi-tenant payment collection — with PCI compliance included.
Strengths:
40+ PSPs. Each client routes through their own gateway — Worldpay, Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Braintree, or any of 40+ supported processors. One integration from the BPO.
Multi-channel. Voice (DTMF), payment links (SMS/email), chat, and AI agent payment capture — all through the same integration.
Multi-tenant. Built for outsourcers. The system routes payments to the correct client's PSP with the correct branding automatically.
White-label. Payment experience carries the client's brand. Merchant portal white-labelled. BPO can position payment collection as their own capability.
Per-transaction pricing. $0.20 per Voice Checkout transaction. No per-seat fees. Cost scales with payment volume.
PCI DSS Level 1 + ISO 27001 + SOC 2. Full compliance included. Zero PCI scope for the BPO.
AI agent support. Defined API handoff for mid-conversation payment capture by AI voice and chat agents.
Fast deployment. Days to weeks, not months.
Limitations:
Less brand recognition than PCI Pal or Eckoh in the contact centre space
Newer entrant — smaller installed base in legacy contact centre environments
Not designed for on-prem telephony (cloud/SIP only)
Best for: BPOs, call answering services, and multi-client contact centres that need multi-PSP routing, multi-channel coverage, white-label branding, and per-transaction pricing.
Comparison Matrix
PCI Pal | Eckoh | Sycurio | Paytia | Twilio \<Pay\> | Shuttle
PCI DSS Level 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via Twilio | Yes
PSP support | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited | Stripe + few | 40+
Multi-tenant | No | No | No | No | No | Yes
White-label | Limited | Limited | Limited | No | No | Full
Voice (DTMF) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Payment links | Limited | Limited | Some | No | No | Yes
Chat payments | No | No | Some | No | No | Yes
AI agent support | No | Limited | No | No | No | Yes
Pricing model | Per-seat | Per-seat | Hybrid | Per-txn | Per-txn | Per-txn
CCaaS integrations | Good | Strong | Moderate | Limited | Twilio only | SIP/API
Best for | Single-merchant enterprise | Large enterprise | Mid-market | SMB | Twilio shops | Multi-client BPOs
Making the Decision
Stay with PCI Pal / Eckoh / Sycurio if:
You're a single-merchant contact centre with one PSP
All payments are voice-based (no need for links, chat, or AI)
Per-seat pricing fits your cost model
You don't need multi-tenant routing or white-label branding
You have an established relationship and integration is already live
Move to an alternative if:
You handle payments for multiple clients with different PSPs
You need multi-channel payment capture (voice + links + chat)
Per-seat pricing is eating into margins at scale
You want white-label payment experiences for your clients
You're deploying AI agents that need payment capture capabilities
You need per-transaction pricing that scales with volume
FAQ
Can I migrate from PCI Pal without disruption? Yes. A multi-PSP payment layer runs alongside your existing telephony infrastructure. You can migrate clients incrementally — start with new clients on the new system while existing clients continue on PCI Pal until their contracts end or you choose to migrate them.
Is PCI Pal really limited on PSPs? PCI Pal supports a set of payment gateways, but it's not designed as multi-PSP infrastructure. It's designed to capture card data securely and pass it to a configured gateway. If all your clients use the same PSP, this isn't a limitation. If they don't, it is.
What about Eckoh's digital capabilities? Eckoh has been expanding beyond voice with their EckohPAY and secure digital payment products. However, the core architecture remains single-merchant focused, and multi-PSP multi-tenant capabilities are not the primary design point.
How does per-transaction pricing compare at different volumes? At $0.20 per transaction: 1,000 payments/month = $200. 10,000 payments/month = $2,000. 50,000 payments/month = $10,000. Compare this to per-seat pricing at $25/seat/month for 100 agents = $2,500/month regardless of payment volume. Per-transaction becomes more cost-effective as the ratio of agents to payments increases — which is typical for BPOs where not every call involves a payment.
Related Reading
PCI-Compliant Payments for Contact Centres — the complete guide to contact centre payment approaches
Payment Collection for BPOs — the multi-client payment problem and how to solve it
Secure Payment Collection for Debt Agencies — PCI-compliant payments for debt collection
Why Most Call Answering Services Can't Take Payments — the gap in the call answering market
How AI Voice Agents Take PCI-Compliant Payments — the AI agent payment architecture
Payment Orchestration Alternatives — if you're comparing middleware approaches
Need multi-PSP payment collection for your contact centre?
Shuttle gives BPOs and contact centres 40+ PSPs through a single integration — with DTMF voice payments, payment links, chat, and AI agent support. White-label. Per-transaction pricing. PCI DSS Level 1 compliance included.
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