Banks on Tuesday launched a nationwide campaign dubbed Kaa Chonjo to promote safe use of their online platforms by training Kenyans on ways of securing personal details when making transactions on their smartphones.
Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) chief executive Habil Olaka said institutions have made heavy investments to secure their systems, leaving customers unaware of risks they expose themselves to when carrying out online transactions.
“Financial technologies (Fintech) have solved payment challenges making life easier for everyone and creating new jobs and opportunities, but there has been inevitable attempts by fraudsters to exploit vulnerabilities that lead to compromising of security during transactions,” Mr Olaka said.
The KBA boss said social engineering and identity theft were the new crimes in town where gaming sites were used to woo Kenyans to “share” the winnings.
This has seen optimistic “winners” share their details online including their PINs creating an opportunity for fraudsters to strike. Integration of payment platforms with retail chains pay-points could promote trust for online banking services among Kenyans where up to 90 percent still prefer cash transactions compared to the cashless mode of payments.
This initiative will increase financial security thereby reducing online theft cases in these various financial institutions greatly.