Welcome Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited, operating under the brand name CRED, a new Principal Participating Organization (PPO) at the PCI Security Standards Council! In this special spotlight edition of our PCI Perspectives Blog, CRED CISO, Himanshu Kumar Das, introduces us to his company and how they are helping to shape the future of payment security.  

Tell us about your company.

CRED is a members-only fintech platform that serves a community of financially responsible individuals. The platform provides a range of payment and credit-related products, including credit card bill payments, lending, rent payments, and commerce experiences. CRED is committed to delivering secure, seamless, and high-trust financial services, with a strong emphasis on protecting user data and maintaining the integrity of the payments ecosystem. 

Why did your company decide to become a Principal Participating Organization?

CRED chose to become a Principal Participating Organization to actively support the PCI Security Standards Council’s mission of enhancing global payment security. As a participant in the payments ecosystem, we recognize the importance of contributing to the development and evolution of security standards. This engagement enables us to collaborate with industry stakeholders, share perspectives, and help ensure that standards remain effective in addressing current and emerging threats. 

Which benefits are you most looking forward to as a Principal Participating Organization?

We value the opportunity to engage directly with the PCI Security Standards Council and its global community of Participating Organizations. Access to the Technology Guidance Group, early visibility into evolving standards, and the ability to contribute feedback are particularly important to us. These benefits support our ongoing efforts to align with industry best practices and continuously strengthen our approach to protecting payment data. 

Why is it important for companies to get more involved with the PCI Security Standards Council, especially at the Principal Participating Organization level?

Active involvement with the PCI Security Standards Council helps ensure that security standards reflect diverse perspectives across the payments ecosystem. Participation at the Principal level enables organizations to contribute more deeply to standards development and to collaborate on addressing shared challenges. Broad industry engagement is critical to maintaining effective, globally relevant standards that support the security and resilience of payment systems. 

What are some payment security topics that you’re interested in collaborating on?

CRED is interested in collaborating on a range of payment security topics, including:  

• Advancing secure implementation approaches for modern, cloud-based payment environments
• Promoting the adoption and effective use of tokenization to reduce exposure of sensitive data
• Strengthening authentication and authorization mechanisms  
• Addressing emerging fraud vectors and evolving threat landscapes  
• Securing APIs and third-party integrations within the payments ecosystem  
• Supporting best practices for data protection and risk management  

Through collaboration on these areas, we aim to contribute to the continued advancement of payment security standards and practices.