Under the name of "I am protected" and subject to a long-term strategy:
Saudi Banks has launched the second phase of its customers' awareness campaign regarding banking fraud & how to avoid being victim of fraud attempts, especially when using PIN numbers, bank's electronic channels & credit cards
Saudi Banks has confirmed that customers' awareness represents the first line of defense against any fraud attempts or deceiving operations conducted by fraudulent & also has confirmed that it is exerting its at most efforts to insure that its customers are performing their banking transactions in a highly secured but flexible banking environment, that allows customers to transact easily & safely.
During a press conference that was held in Riyadh on July 4th,2010, Saudi Banks has announced the launch of the second phase of its customers' awareness campaign about the attempts of financial frauds under the name of "I am protected ", in the presence of Messrs Talat Zaki Hafiz, Secretary General of the Media & Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks, Mohammed Abdulaziz AL-Rabeah, Head of the Media & Banking Awareness Working Team of Saudi Banks and Ibrahim Abu-Mouti, member of the said working team. The purpose of the campaign is to attract the attention of banks' customers to the importance of complying with the banking instructions regarding the safe & proper use of its electronic banking channels such as ATMs, Phone Banking & Internet Banking & the use of credit cards.
It is worth mentioning that Saudi Banks has applied the highest control standards available & applicable in executing its operations, in order to assure the security of its customers' funds & personal savings & to protect them from being subject to potential fraud, as this is a part of its social responsibility & commitment to insure products & operations quality.
Talat Hafiz, said that this phase of the awareness campaign which is being carried out by the Saudi banks with the support of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is a continuation of a similar awareness campaign that was launched by the Saudi banks last year for the same objectives which has reflected a positive interaction of banks' customer, whom they have appreciated the various efforts conducted by Saudi Banks to prevent them from being subject to potential fraud attempts.
In this phase of the campaign, the Saudi Banks is intending to send series messages to its customers, through various media channels, to inform them of the common means of financial and banking frauds and to send several instructions regarding the safe execution of banking transaction via electronic means.
Hafiz has pointed out that the objective of this campaign is directed towards saving the interest of the customer, as part of a long-term strategy, sought to send clear and specific messages to the customers to comply with directives and instructions issued by the banks in connection with the safe execution of banking transactions via electronic channels, such as the importance of preserving confidentiality and privacy of the personal and banking financial records in order to protect them from any fraud attempts, since the statistics indicated that the majority of customers' fraud operations were linked by factors of leniency in dealing with the banking data and PIN numbers. This matter is considered one of the factors led to success of the opportunities of fraud, especially in the light of the increase dependency on electronic channels in executing banking transactions.
During the press conference, Hafiz has reviewed the negative common banking practices, which may expose customers to potential fraud, such as not preserving the confidentiality of their personal and banking records or revealing their ATM PIN number or information about their credit cards.
Also he has pointed out some additional negative banking practices by customers that could lead to potential fraud, such as responding to emails or phone calls received from unknown sources, asking them for banking information or updating their banking records. In this regard Hafiz has stressed the fact that updating banks personal data is only to be made directly through the branch network & not through phone calls or emails.
Also said, that the announcements calling for settlement & granting customers' loans or financing projects of any unauthorized or unlicensed organization and individual, which are spread through posters and some advertisements, are considered among the common fraud features, which led to the violation of laws and regulations.
Hafiz has advised banks' customers not to over place their confidence to others especially those who seek to exploit this trust and turn it into a mean of gimmicks, such as strangers or unknown individuals, whom they ask the customers to pay their utility bills or services charges from their personal accounts. He also advising customers to regularly change their PIN numbers, especially when returning back to kingdom from abroad and be alert not to choose serial or repeated numbers or common numbers such as the date of birth, urging at the same time customers not to use the credit cards in unsafe places or sites.
Finally he has indicated that the banks' customers have shown remarkable response to the banks' instructions in connection with the proper & safe use of electronic banking channels.
Meanwhile, Head of the Media & Banking Awareness Working Team, Mr. Mohammed AL-Rabeah has said that the Saudi banks have agreed on an unified vision to implement the campaign as this is part of their shared responsibilities towards their customers , saying that the campaign is self matching with the efforts being exerted by Saudi banks in connection with providing an ultimate protection standards and safety to their customers, as well as to upgrade the level of its systems to cope with the latest technologies.
Al- Rabeah has explained that despite of the modest number of banking fraud attempts in Saudi Arabia, and its modest growth rates in comparison with regional and international markets, yet the awareness strategy adopted by Saudi banks comes within the concept of precautionary measures taken in order to boost customers' immunity against falling into the trap of fraud whenever using electronic banking channels and or credit cards.
On his part, member of the Media & Banking Awareness Working Team of Saudi Banks, Ibrahim Abu-Mouti, said that the tools used to send the campaign banking awareness messages, depended heavily on using a large number of media means, such as press releases, conferences, TV & radio announcements, SMS, newspaper adds, articles, and social electronic communication. In addition to these means, banks will deploy their various banking channels to convey the campaign messages to its customers.
Finally he indicated that Saudi Banks has chosen in particular to launch the campaign at this time of the year, in order to cope with summer season and vacations, which usually witnesses active movements of sales and purchases in general, by mostly using credit cards.
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© Press Release 2010
