The announcement was made after Ithmaar Bank retrofitted all it 43 ATMs
with sophisticated fingerprint readers after having completed extensive testing
of the new, first of its kind security feature.
His
Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had earlier
(ed note 12/03/19) inaugurated the Eazy biometric payment network by making
Ithmaar Bank the first biometric bank in the region.
“I take this opportunity to, once again, thank His Royal Highness Prime
Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for the unstinted support to the
Kingdom’s banking and finance industry in general and this path breaking
initiative in particular,” said Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive, Ahmed Abdul
Rahim. “This helps further reinforce Bahrain’s already prominent position as a
key and innovative banking hub in the region,” he said.
The pioneering initiative was
first announced last September when Ithmaar Bank and Eazy Financial Services unveiled
plans to launch the region’s first biometric payment network, supported by the
Labour Fund “Tamkeen”, to provide a new and more efficient alternative for
customers to conduct many of their financial transactions. Ithmaar Bank’s inauguration of the first
biometric-enabled ATM network is part of the Bank’s digital initiatives and is
in line with the Bank’s commitment to customer-centricity.
“The initiative is a result of the financial support of Tamkeen, with
the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Bahrain Economic
Development Board (EDB),” said Abdul Rahim. “It is something we can all be
justifiably proud of, and it would not have been possible without all their
support and guidance,” he said.
“Ithmaar Bank is determined to become the retail bank of choice,” said
Abdul Rahim. “To do so, we invest heavily in continuously developing our
products and services to ensure we meet or exceed customer expectations,” he
said.
Following the commissioning, Ithmaar Bank customers are no longer required
to use their cards at the Bank’s ATMs. Instead, they can simply use their
fingerprint along with their PIN to process financial transactions. This
provides a simpler, more secure way to process financial transactions than ever
before.
To use the service for the first time, customers will need to register
their fingerprint data at their nearest branch. The one-time registration only
takes a few minutes and allows customer immediate access to the new service.
“The new biometric payment network allows customers to interact with the
Bank in a safer, more secure and, ultimately, more convenient way,” said Abdul
Rahim. “This opens up an exciting new world of possibilities which, in future, may
also include points of sale,” he said.
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