Kuwait Finance House “KFH” has received the “First Sharia-compliant Foreign Currency Prepaid Card in Kuwait” award from Visa. The award was presented to KFH in recognition of its efforts in launching the first Sharia-compliant Visa prepaid card of its kind in the local market. This card helps customers manage their payments efficiently and pay directly in foreign currency without charging foreign currency exchange fees.

“We are honoured and delighted to have received this award from Visa which recognizes the standards of excellence and pioneering steps taken by KFH to always differentiate itself by launching unique banking products and services. This foreign currency card is a clear-cut example of the outstanding position of KFH in the cards market and the entire Retail Banking market”, said Group Chief Retail and private Banking officer at KFH, Khaled Yousif Alshamlan, on the sidelines of receiving the award from Visa in an award ceremony held at KFH Headquarters.

Commenting on this, Dr Saeeda Jaffar, Visa’s Group Country Manager for the GCC region, said: “Visa is delighted to present this award to KFH for launching the first Sharia-compliant foreign currency prepaid card in Kuwait. As the global leader in digital payments, Visa strives to provide innovative solutions that address the evolving payment needs of consumers in Kuwait. KFH's efforts in providing the innovative, secure digital payments that contribute to the growth of digital commerce in Kuwait makes them a well-deserving recipient of this award.”

Alshamlan added that the launch of the prepaid card depicts KFH’s keenness to give customers a unique banking experience to fulfill their ambitions and aspirations, not to mention it represents the bank’s strategy of rolling out high-end products and services while expanding its customer base, and increasing market share for maintaining strong financial position in Kuwait and worldwide.

He indicated that the Foreign Currency Prepaid Card enables customers to easily charge and pay in different currencies during travel and online shopping, indicating the card, that is available in 5 main currencies: US Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro, UAE Dirham and Saudi Riyal, is safer than cash and gives travelers a smart and suitable method to carry their travel money.

Alshamlan added that the cards provide unique advantages including avoiding fluctuations in exchange rate of the chosen currency, easy spending without exchanging the currency, protection of purchases and benefiting from continuous VISA offers.

He pointed out that the card is flexible in recharging through KFH application for smart phones KFHonline, KFH website www.kfh.com , KFH service “Aloo Baitak” on 1803333 in addition to KFH branches and KFH’s self-banking stations KFH Go.

He explained that issuing the card to the customer does not require the customer to have an account in KFH or make a salary transfer. The card does not require an annual commitment. He added that customers’ need to be 18 years old and above.

He emphasized that KFH is continuing its success in the banking cards market, using the highest standards of quality and innovation, underlining the great success of various campaigns for cards and Baitak rewards program.

Alshamlan highlighted KFH leadership in digital transformation using the most modern payment methods. He referred to the “smart wallet” service through smart mobiles and watches, that provide the latest smart and highly secured payment methods in cooperation with “Garmin”, “Fitbit” and “Samsung”. The holders of all KFH cards are now able to enjoy the smart and easy payment methods by passing the device or the smart watch on the POS which are compatible with “NFC” locally and globally.