Kuwait’s CBK picks Thales for its digital payment system

By Rahul Vaimal, Associate Editor
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Commercial Bank of Kuwait
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One of the oldest banks in Kuwait, The Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has chosen French multinational company Thales to digitalize its payment system by allowing for contactless payments through the CBK mobile app.

CBK is supplied with Gemalto Trusted Services Hub (TSH), which enables secure contactless payments on smartphones. The method of tokenization is used in the technology which allows the secure digitalization of debit and credit cards on Android handsets, protecting users’ personal data against fraudsters.

This app also integrates with Thales Gemalto SDK (Software Development Kit) which can be used as a mobile wallet to buy from retail outlets.

Thales solution is a cloud-based, turnkey service that facilitates seamless and secure tokenization. Here they are converting physical card details into digital tokens, which can be easily embedded in devices such as smartphones and wearables. Furthermore, the security level of the encrypted token prevents fraudsters from gaining access to users’ sensitive data, which ensures high standards of fraud protection.

The launch of Mobile Payments further strengthens the partnership between CBK and Thales. Also, the bank which is one of the largest financial institutions in Kuwait already relies on Thales for their EMV contactless cards, as well as instant issuance solutions for personalization and printing of instant cards.

AbdulAziz Essa Malak, AGM – Card Centre at CBK said, “CBK is committed to offering its customers the most innovative and exciting banking services possible. The introduction of contactless mobile payment represents the latest stage on this journey, and also reflects our confidence in Thales to help us deliver the most advanced and recent digital payment innovations”.

“Our contribution to CBK success is set on unrivaled security expertise and experience in mobile payment deployments for worldwide issuers and wallets providers. As we work ever-more closely with CBK, our objective is to offer new digital experiences to Kuwait’s young, demanding and tech-savvy consumers,” said Nassir Ghrous, senior vice president, Banking and Payment Services for Africa, Middle East and Eurasia region at Thales.

The mobile banking application is available to the CBK customers for download and they can register their payment cards. The digital form of their cards will be available soon.

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