Kuwait Finance House launches SWIFT payment controls service

By Leandra Monteiro

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has launched SWIFT Payment Controls service that focuses on outgoing payments by helping in mitigating fraudulent attacks by detecting and preventing high-risk payments and supporting recovery. The new service is in line with KFH`s digital transformation strategy and its goal to achieve leadership in e-banking services and maintain customer experience.

Tahani Al-Khamees, Deputy General Manager Transaction Banking Operations at KFH, said that the new service, implemented successfully according to the highest quality and safety standards by KFH, enables customers to real-time monitor, alert and block sent payments with independent daily reporting.

She explained that this service has many benefits and features, including stopping high-risk payments in real-time, ‘in-flight’ monitoring of outgoing payments, intelligent technology that learns behavioural patterns over time and supports continuous and secure improvement as well as being a SWIFT-hosted service with zero footprint and instant switch-on.

Al-Khamees added that SWIFT Payment Controls service, easily tailored by users, offers powerful but simple to use pre-built reports covering both sent and received payments, allowing managing blocked payments, mitigating fraud risk and building a safer, more secure future and improving payment speed, transparency and reliability with alert coverage of key payment messages MT103, MT202 and MT202COV.

In light of the changing nature and impact of fraud in the financial services industry, Al-Khamees pointed out the importance of protecting main payment systems and Swift Payment Controls service, stressing the banking system’s continuous endeavour and efforts to prevent fraud attacks by real-time monitoring of payments, focusing on data security and enhancing cybersecurity strategy.

Along with offering integrated package of digital banking services, KFH has recently launched digital signature service in personal financing products through KFH mobile app or desktop from anywhere without having to visit the branch, Live FX Pricing, instant cross-border payments service at KFH-Turkey using Ripple’s technology and digital Wallet service through smart mobiles and watches which provides advanced and smart digital payment methods according to highly developed security standards in cooperation with Samsung, Fitbit and Garmin.

In addition, KFHGo branches offer a variety of interactive banking services, including those at Kuwait International Airport, such as establishing “Murabaha” financing transactions, requesting credit and prepaid cards, updating data and phone numbers, activating bank cards, opening deposits and accounts, instant cheque printing, receiving gold biscuits (10 grams), opening (gold, savings, Al-Rabeh, electron) accounts, online gold purchase and sell, cardless withdrawals using QR code through mobile, or by using Civil ID or phone number, in addition to many other financing and banking services.