PCI DSS Level 1 Certified

Agent-Assisted Payments Your agent stays. The card number doesn't.

Agent-assisted payments keep your agent on the live call while the customer keys their card on their own phone. We mask the keypad tones before they reach the agent's audio or the call recording, so the conversation never breaks and the card data never lands anywhere it shouldn't. One keypress to start the capture. One green light when the gateway responds. PCI scope drops from SAQ D to SAQ A the moment you connect.

What is an agent-assisted payment?

An agent-assisted payment is a card payment taken during a live phone call, with the agent on the line the entire time, but where the agent never sees or hears the card number. The customer keys their card details on their own phone keypad. Every keypress makes a DTMF tone, which we replace with a flat sound in real time using DTMF maskingbefore it reaches the agent or the recording. The digits go directly from the customer's handset to our PCI DSS Level 1 infrastructure and on to your payment gateway.

The agent stays where they're useful — answering questions, confirming details, handling the rest of the call. The card data takes a different path, one that never touches your business. That's what "agent-assisted" actually means: the agent is assisting the customer, not handling the card.

How agent-assisted compares to the alternatives

There are three ways to take a card payment on a phone call. Two of them put you in full PCI scope. Only one keeps you out.

Risky

Agent reads the card aloud

The customer reads the card number out, the agent writes it down or types it into a terminal, everyone overhears it. The recording captures every digit. Notes, forms, and CRM fields end up holding card data.

PCI outcome: SAQ D. 329 controls. Every recording and workstation in scope. Not where you want to be.

Limited

Transfer to automated IVR

The agent puts the customer on hold, transfers them to an automated payment line, and hopes they come back. Fast for simple payments. Cold for anything that needs a person.

PCI outcome: SAQ A, but the call flow is jarring. You lose the ability to help mid-payment, and drop-off rates climb.

Recommended

Agent-assisted with DTMF masking

The agent stays on the call. The customer keys their card on their own handset. We mask the tones before they hit the recording or the agent's audio. Conversation never breaks; card data never arrives.

PCI outcome: SAQ A, 22 controls, full human experience. The one we're here for.

How it works on a real call

1

Agent confirms the amount

Standard call, standard script — up to the moment of payment.

2

One-click capture start

Agent clicks 'Take payment' in your CRM or the Paytia console. Enters the amount.

3

Customer keys the card

The customer types digits on their own keypad. Every tone is replaced with flat audio.

4

Gateway authorizes

Agent watches a progress bar. Approved or declined lands in seconds. Agent carries on the call.

What an agent-assisted payment does to your PCI scope

PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider certification

PCI DSS Level 1

Our scope becomes yours the moment your card data takes our route. The work, the audit, and the evidence sit with us.

AreaWithout PaytiaWith Paytia
Self-assessmentSAQ D (329 controls)SAQ A (22 controls)
Network in scopeMost of your stackNone
Call recordingsRedact, pause-and-resume, or isolateCard-data free
Agent trainingMandatory and recurringNone required
Audit evidenceEvery touchpointProof of integration only

Where agent-assisted payments fit

Anywhere the customer benefits from a human on the line through the payment step.

Contact centers

Agents stay engaged through the capture. Useful for upsell, retention, and complex calls that don't naturally pause.

Healthcare billing

Patient copays, deductibles, and outstanding balances — where HIPAA-aware handling and human support both matter.

Insurance and lenders

Premiums, deductibles, repayments — where state regulators and the FTC expect strong handling and your agents need to answer questions.

Nonprofits

Live fundraising calls, donor pledges, recurring gifts — without a volunteer writing card numbers on a notepad.

Frequently asked questions

What is an agent-assisted payment?

It's a card payment taken during a live phone call, with the agent on the line the whole time, but where the agent never sees or hears the card number. The customer keys their card on their own phone keypad. The keypad tones are masked before they hit the agent's audio or your call recording, and the card goes straight to your processor. The agent stays in the conversation — they can answer questions, confirm the amount, upsell, close the deal — but they're never the route the card data takes.

How is this different from a self-service IVR?

An IVR is fully automated — the customer calls a number, a recorded voice walks them through, no human involved. That's fine for routine, low-value, high-volume payments, but it's a poor fit when the customer needs help or the call has commercial substance. Agent-assisted keeps the human on the line. Same PCI protection either way; very different conversation.

Why not just have the agent type the card number into the CRM?

Because the moment a card number lands in your CRM, your call recording, your screen-share session, or your agent's notepad, you're in full PCI DSS scope — SAQ D, 329 controls, an annual QSA assessment, recurring training, secure rooms. Agent-assisted with DTMF masking removes every one of those touchpoints while keeping the agent where they're useful: on the call, helping the customer.

How does this hold up against TCPA scrutiny?

Because the keypad tones are masked before the recording layer, your call recordings stay clean — no card data leaking into a recording someone subpoenas later. Your existing TCPA review process keeps working, and you avoid the awkward 'why was this call recorded with card data in it?' question if a complaint hits the FCC. Healthcare clients also stop card audio reaching systems that touch PHI, which keeps the HIPAA story simpler.

Which US contact center platforms does this work with?

Genesys Cloud, Five9, NICE CXone, Amazon Connect, RingCentral, 8x8, Talkdesk, plain SIP trunks, and traditional PBX. We integrate at the SIP or API layer with no on-prem hardware on your side. Most US deployments go live within a week of a first call — the lift is on us, not your team.

What do agents need to learn?

Almost nothing. The agent sees a button in whatever dashboard they already use — Salesforce, HubSpot, ServiceNow, Zendesk, an in-house CRM, or the Paytia console. They click it, enter the amount, and tell the customer to key their card. Approval or decline lands in seconds. There's no script, no new tool, no certification — taking the payment becomes the same shape of task as asking for a ZIP code.

Does this work for MOTO and recurring billing?

Yes. Agent-assisted with DTMF masking is built for card-not-present telephone orders. We tokenize the card on first capture so the same flow supports one-time payments, recurring billing, payment plans, and follow-up charges through Stripe, Chase Payment Solutions, Braintree, Authorize.Net, Adyen, or Worldpay.

Keep the agent. Lose the card data.

We'll demo it against the same phone system and gateway you already use. Most US businesses are taking live agent-assisted payments within a week.

PCI DSS Level 1
TCPA & HIPAA Aligned

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