Photo/The Standard
Commercial banks operating in the country experienced a cyber-attack on their inter-bank transfer platform PesaLink, reports confirm.
Owned by Kenya Bankers Association, PesaLink however din’t surfer any cash or customer data loss.
The hacking attempt was traced and stopped before any damage was done.
In a statement to Nation, Integrated Payments Service Ltd (IPSL) CEO Jennifer Theuri said: “We confirm that an attempt to access the PesaLink platform was recently intercepted,”
She clarified that their cyber security team successfully managed to trace and stop the illegal transactions in close collaboration with the banking partners.
PesaLink platform has rapidly grown, with a membership of 28 banks and is estimated that it moves an average of Sh50 million daily.
The hacking attempt was reported to the Central Bank of Kenya
“The actions were duly reported to the Central Bank of Kenya with further investigations to unmask the individuals involved now under way and the perpetrators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Customers subscribed to the platform can transfer cash from as low as Sh10 to a high of Sh999,999 to any signed up bank account.
Financial pressure from services such as M-Pesa and MobiKash forced local commercial banks to establish a mobile phone-based direct money transfer system in 2012.
The financial institutions argued that the telcos were eating into their transaction fees.