Kuwait Finance House launches first MasterCard smart card in South Asia Middle East and Africa region

A chip embedded in the KFH MasterCard Platinum cards™ offers high net worth customers increased security.

The launch was held in the Kuwait Finance House head office and those present included, Mr. Jassar Al Jassar, general manager, KFH, Mohammed Belarj, vice-president, general manager, MasterCard Middle East & North Africa, Mohammed Al Fouzan, assistant deputy general manager, banking sector, TK Raman, vice-president and country manager Middle East & North Africa, Julio Lobo, business director, BCD, KFH.

Mohammed Nasser Al-Fouzan commented, "This is yet another confirmation of KFH embracing future technologies by offering world class services to our customers. MasterCard Platinum cardholders will now get a smart card that offers increased security - especially important on cards with high credit limits. KFH will continue improving and adding new features in order to offer all our customers the best payment card solutions."

Mohammed Belarj went on to comment, "We are delighted to be associated with KFH and congratulate Mr. Jassar and Mr. Fouzan on this very important achievement. The growth of MasterCard cards at KFH has been very impressive and we are proud to offer all our member financial institutions the latest payment card technologies enabling them to have a distinct edge in the marketplace."

A smart chip payment card is simply a credit card with a microprocessor chip embedded inside. The chip has memory and can process data similar to a computer. Data can be received, stored and sent back out again with the highest level of security. Smart chips have added capabilities such as electronic keys and encryption that make this level of security possible.

Many of the world's leading financial institutions are increasingly moving to smart payment cards to provide their customers peace of mind when making purchases with the enhanced security of this latest technology. KFH is one of the early adopters of this technology and rather than follow, have chosen to lead the region by becoming the first to offer customers smart payment cards.

MasterCard Platinum Chip Cards are produced at Oberthure in Dijon, France and at First Data Europe in London, the largest third party card processors in the world. KFH recently outsourced their Card processing to FDE London in April of this year.

KFH has been a pioneer in embracing future technologies and in offering its customers superior products and services. Launching the first MasterCard Platinum card with smart technology in the SAMEA region is yet another milestone in this ongoing process. KFH looks to move all its payment cards to chip technology in the future.