NBK to adopt SWIFT payment pre-validation service

By Leandra Monteiro

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has successfully launched Payment Pre-validation, a highly advanced solution that helps make cross-border payments faster and more secure, in partnership with SWIFT a provider of secure financial messaging services, which is introduced for the first time in the Middle East.

The new service allows to reduce risks by early detection of fraud and avoid many cases of rejection and delay caused by incorrect or missing information about the beneficiary when initiating the payment process. It also allows to validate the beneficiary’s account details with the recipient through an app interface at the beginning of the process to identify and resolve any data or account issues and before payment is executed.

Currently, NBK is piloting with HSBC due to their readiness on this services as more banks are expected to join in due course.

On this occasion, Mohammad Al-Kharafi, General Manager, Head of Group Operations at National Bank of Kuwait said, “Launching the new service comes in line with NBK’s unwavering efforts over the past years towards developing the main infrastructure of the payment and remittance systems for more efficiency, and better, faster and safer services to customers.”

Al-Kharafi stressed that NBK is pumping large investments into developing payment solutions and services, in line with its digital transformation roadmap and agenda, seeking to reinforce its leading position, both locally and regionally.

Onur Ozan, Head of Middle East, North Africa and Turkey at SWIFT said, “Payment Pre-validation is all about reducing friction and bringing end-to-end efficiency. It is key to enabling fast and frictionless payments across the world and will enable our customers to provide better, faster and new services to their own end clients.”

It is worth mentioning that the National Bank of Kuwait has recently launched SWIFT Payment Controls, which is the latest smart solution that helps in mitigating fraudulent attacks, stopping high-risk payments in addition to enhancing security level, thanks to its unique alert and reporting capabilities. The service provides controls including real-time alerting and blocking of sent payments to detect and prevent high-risk payments, as well as providing protection by blocking suspicious payments and daily reporting of transaction status and recovery.