Boubyan Bank introduces Mini Bank branches in Kuwait

Boubyan Bank, one of the top Islamic banks in Kuwait, has introduced its “Mini Bank” concept to Kuwait. The Mini Bank, launched in cooperation with NCR, allows the bank to expand its presence in new locations where it cannot justify a full-size branch.

Source: Boubyan Bank website.

The Mini Bank, powered by NCR Interactive Teller, enables Boubyan’s centrally-located video tellers to remotely deliver 95% of teller services typically available at a traditional branch, across more hours and locations. The first branch will open at the Kuwait International Airport, and will offer teller services from 8 am to 2 am, seven days a week.

NCR Interactive Teller is ATM-based technology that not only lets people talk to live remote teller, but also gives the teller remote control over the machine to conduct transactions, such as cash deposits and dispense money in specific denominations. Transfers between accounts as well as cash or cheque acceptance without a card can also be performed. Security is maintained not only through the traditional card and pin, but also through a UV-enabled civil ID scanner and signature pad to authenticate customers and confirm their approval to conduct transactions.

Dr. Waleed Al-Hasawi, Boubyan Bank’s Head of IT, commented, “The Mini Bank is one of many technology innovations developed in partnership between Boubyan Bank team and NCR Corporation. Boubyan Bank is leading the way when it comes to implementing new technology innovations as part of our information technology strategy to offer Boubyan Bank customers a differentiated customer experience.”

Fahd Al-Fawzan, General Manager of Sales and Distribution Channels, Boubyan Bank, added that the bank more NCR Interactive Teller Machines will be installed at prime locations in the country based on customer feedback.

Al Rajhi Bank launches Musafir Prepaid Card-i for withdrawals during Hajj and umrah

Source: Al Rajhi Bank website.

Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia has launched the Musafir Prepaid Card-i, the first and only Saudi rial-denominated cash card in the market. The launch was made during the Road2Haramain Festival 2014, which brings together members of the travel and tourism industry in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and China to increase Hajj and umrah business ties and develop Islamic tourism in the Asian region and across the world.

Sponsored by Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia, a subsidiary of world’s biggest Islamic banking service provider, Al Rajhi Bank of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the festival was held on 25 and 26 November in Kuala Lumpur and on 27 November at the Renaissance Johor Bahru Hotel. 

With 14 participating companies, Road2Haramain 2014 sets the stage for the first Asian Road2Haramain Mahrajan in 2015. The high point of this festival would be presentation of awards of appreciation to companies that have contributed immensely to Hajj and umrah services in Malaysia.

Both Al Rajhi and Road2Haramain are synonymous with strong Islamic values. “Al Rajhi aims to collaborate with the big players in the Muslim travel and tourism industry to intensively promote the benefits of the Musafir Prepaid Card as well as other Al Rajhi Bank shari'ah-compliant financial products and services to the Muslim ummah,” said Selamat Haji Sirat, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Al Rajhi Bank. 

“At the same time Al Rajhi strives to promote and advocate ‘purity’ in the aspects of ‘muamalat’ of the pilgirms while performing umrah and Hajj."

“Our relationship with Al Rajhi Bank started many years ago in Saudi Arabia and continued here in Kuala Lumpur. We are happy to work together with Al Rajhi Bank and to continue banking with the biggest Islamic bank in the world which shares noble values with us for the good of the ummah,” said Haji Rahim, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Al Haramain Resource.

The Musafir Prepaid Card-i is the first Saudi rial Prepaid traveller’s card and provides access to cash at over 3,800 ATMs in the Al Rajhi network in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The card offers instant cash convenience and advantages to the pilgrims such as a low per-withdrawal fee, secure PIN-based activated transaction and competitive Saudi rial exchange rates.

Over 20 MOUs were signed between Al Rajhi Bank and travel agents at the Festival, for the Al Rajhi Musafir Prepaid Card-i. The Musafir card follows the launch of Al Rajhi Bank's Hijrah Priority Card in July 2013. 

At the time of the Hijrah Priority Card launch, the bank noted that withdrawal fees are waived for card-holders during the Hajj season at Al Rajhi ATMs in Saudi Arabia, and offers discounted ATM withdrawal fees at Al Rajhi ATMs in the kingdom during the off-Hajj season.

Meezan Bank deploys energy-savvy ATMs

Diebold and its distributor TouchPoint are deploying 50 energy-efficient Diebold 429 automated teller machines (ATMs) for Pakistan's first and largest Islamic commercial bank.  

Based in Karachi, Pakistan, Meezan Bank is the 8th largest bank in Pakistan in terms of branch network, and provides a range of Islamic banking products and services. It operates more than 350 branches in more than 100 cities across the country, as well as a network of more than 315 ATMs. Expanding its self-service network with new Diebold 429 ATMs is helping the bank remain one of Pakistan's fastest-growing banks and emphasises its commitment to the environment.  

The Diebold 429 is the first energy-efficient ATM deployed in Pakistan. It operates on as little as 70 watts of power and features an intelligent-powered management system that counteracts unreliable power availability to enhance ATM uptime for Meezan Bank's customers.

"We are committed to enhancing the convenience, availability and sustainability of banking services for our customers," said Ariful Islam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Meezan Bank. "Our new ATMs will enable us to expand our reach to more customers in remote areas where power availability is a challenge."

The Diebold 429 ATM offers uninterrupted power availability by continuously monitoring the power required to complete transactions and automatically alternating between three possible power sources – solar panel, alternating current (AC) grid and internal battery. The ATM switches seamlessly between these sources to maximise uptime and reduce energy consumption by up to 40% compared with other ATMs.

Qatar Islamic Bank to beef up security with NCR

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the first Islamic financial institution in Qatar, and NCR, a consumer transaction technologies provider, have signed an agreement under which QIB will purchase the NCR Skimming Protection Solution (SPS) in an effort to proactively address today’s ATM skimming challenges and deliver maximum protection and convenience to its customers. 

As part of this project, QIB will enhance the strength of its IT infrastructure with the use of security firewalls and network access control, as well as refresh its data centre switches and its entire telephony system.

QIB has already implemented Solidcore Suite for APTRA, an ATM white-listing software that proactively protects ATMs from insider attacks by preventing the introduction of unauthorised code on the network and maintaining its integrity and availability.

“Our agreement with NCR will deliver the latest software and hardware technology to help protect QIB banking platforms so we can sharpen our focus on productivity and protect our clients' data – a key pillar of our business strategy and a continuous improvement we have in plan,” said Ghazi Qarout, Qatar Islamic Bank's Chief Information Officer. 

“NCR brings a unique vision for transforming our IT Infrastructure and ATM channel through software platforms, consulting and hardware enablement, helping us speed our innovation, improve our customer experience and build on a roadmap deemed for success.”

With this new project, QIB will be among the first large financial institutions to move their self-service network to the Microsoft Windows 7 platform, which when combined with the Solidcore solution can result in superior security, putting QIB in an advantageous position to offer great experiences to its customers.  

QIB has also introduced new security measures for Internet and mobile banking in line with a directive from the Qatar Central Bank. QIB customers must now use “One-Time-Password” (OTP)* authentication to further secure online banking.
Customers can receive OTP codes in two ways: using a smartphone application called “QIB Aman” or via SMS.

*OTP is a password that is valid for only one log-in or transaction. As it is only effective for a short period of time and is no longer accepted thereafter, it is considered an effective method of combating software which attempts to fraudulently capture a customer’s log-in information.