Safaricom has launched a fraud intelligence tool to help financial institutions such as banks, microfinance institutions, and insurance firms curb fraud.
The telco, says the tool will help determine the authenticity of a financial transaction and also provide financial firms with capabilities to better design their lending propositions, enhance the registration and onboarding of new customers, and manage phone numbers linked to a customer’s accounts.
“Today, we are launching a solution that will provide these world-class capabilities to our enterprise customers in the financial sector, empowering them to make more informed decisions when interacting with their customers in the digital space,” said Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom.
The solution works across USSD, internet banking and smartphone apps which are among the country’s most popular banking channels.
Using Safaricom’s Daraja M-PESA API, the tool searches a customer’s phone number through its database to check against parameters like SIM swap, etc to reduce fraud and to make a decision whether to allow the transaction or if to further authenticate the customer through other methods.
The tool is expected to benefit the country through increased usage of mobile and internet banking used by more than 3.5 million Kenyans in the country every month.
