Payment Flow Intelligence Framework™ helps organizations examine where employees, systems and cardholder data intersect within phone payment processes.
Miami, United States (PRUnderground) October 6th, 2026
Datatel Inc./Datatel Communications, a PCI Level 1 Service Provider specializing in payment technology and payment intelligence, has released a new Payment Flow Intelligence analysis examining how organizations can redesign employee-assisted phone payment processes to reduce the need for employees to directly handle customer card information.
The analysis focuses on a common payment workflow in healthcare, utilities, municipalities, insurance and other service organizations: a customer calls an employee, provides credit card information verbally, and the employee enters that information into a payment application.
Although the transaction may appear straightforward, Datatel's Payment Flow Intelligence Framework™ looks beyond the individual payment to examine how cardholder data enters the organization, who interacts with it, which systems receive it, and whether human involvement is actually required throughout the payment process.
"Employees can provide tremendous value when customers need help understanding a balance, resolving an account issue or discussing payment options," said Barnard Crespi, Co-CEO of Datatel. "But that doesn't necessarily mean the employee also needs to hear, see or enter the customer's card information. Looking at the complete payment flow allows organizations to separate where human assistance provides value from where automation may provide a better way to handle the transaction."
One approach examined in the analysis is moving the payment-data portion of the customer interaction into an automated IVR payment environment. Rather than communicating card information to an employee, the customer enters the information directly into the payment system while the broader service interaction can remain intact.
This changes an important part of the payment flow: where cardholder data enters the environment and who needs to interact with it.
The analysis also highlights the relationship between payment-flow design and PCI DSS considerations. Implementing a particular technology does not automatically remove employees, applications, or systems from PCI scope. PCI scope depends on the organization's specific payment environment, architecture, and processes.
However, redesigning a workflow so that fewer employees and systems handle cardholder data can help organizations evaluate opportunities to reduce payment-data exposure and potentially reduce PCI scope, depending on the environment.
"PCI discussions often start with the question of whether an organization is compliant," Crespi added. "We think there is another important question leaders should be asking: can the payment flow itself be redesigned so fewer people and systems need to interact with cardholder data in the first place?"
Datatel's analysis encourages organizations accepting payments over the phone to examine several areas of their existing payment environment, including where cardholder data is captured, whether employees can hear or see the information, which applications receive or transmit it, and what operational steps occur before and after payment authorization.
The same analysis can also identify operational dependencies within the payment process. When an employee must receive payment information, manually enter it and wait for a transaction to complete, the payment process depends on employee availability and consumes staff capacity that could potentially be directed toward higher-value customer interactions.
Through its Payment Flow Intelligence Framework™, Datatel helps organizations examine these dependencies and identify opportunities to move money more securely, efficiently and intelligently.
Organizations with employees currently accepting card payments over the phone can learn more by assessing their existing phone payment flow or exploring IVR payment automation with Datatel.
For more information, visit www.datatel-systems.com
Resource: https://youtu.be/43IbjxFhCEo
Direct Links:
> Understanding How Money Moves™ Executive Session > https://www.datatel-systems.com/money-flow-session/
> Payment Flow Intelligence Framework™ > https://www.datatel-systems.com/services/
> IVR Payments > https://www.datatel-systems.com/ivr-payments/
About Datatel
Datatel is a payment technology and advisory company that helps organizations modernize how they securely accept and manage payments. For more than 25 years, Datatel has specialized in secure payment infrastructure, IVR payment technology, and PCI compliance advisory services that reduce the risks associated with handling payment card data. As more organizations introduce AI technologies into customer interactions, Datatel helps ensure payment transactions remain isolated, secure, and compliant by protecting Voice AI and other automated systems from directly handling sensitive cardholder data. Datatel's solutions are used by healthcare providers, utilities, financial services organizations, and government agencies across North America.
