Bankers to discuss IT fraud, money laundering

By Jackson Okoth

Bankers are set to discuss ways of dealing with rising incidences of technology-related fraud.

They will also discuss financial inclusion in the upcoming Comesa banker’s forum in Nairobi next month.

The two-day conference to be held from March 7-8, will also link experts in financial sector to update themselves on the latest international developments in payment technologies, best practices in IT, project deployment and trends in customer service delivery.

Other areas will be risk management, governance, regulation and compliance.

"There is an explosion of reverse IT engineering leading to ATM fraud and there is an increasing incidence of financial crimes perpetuated by the hacking of banking systems," said Sean Moroney, Chairman-Aitec Africa and Programme Director.

"This regional event will focus on how to make financial services available to the unbanked, data security and fraud prevention," added Moroney.

Abdi Mohamed, Chief Operating Officer, Barclays Bank said fraudsters were evolving with the changing technology.

"Fraudsters are increasingly targeting technology systems as seen in losses incurred by commercial banks," he said.

This is why we should invest in designing mitigation measures," he said at the signing of a partnership between Barclays Bank and Aitec Africa, organisers of the event. The Bank is sponsoring the event.

Reliance on IT

The conference will draw experts from across Africa, US, India and Switzerland with participation of International ATM Association and Global Anti-Money Laundering Network, indicating a significant force of knowledge sharing to expect.

Barclays Bank runs a contact centre for its clients in addition to Internet and mobile banking platforms that has so far attracted over 100,000 customers.

"Barclays has invested heavily in a core banking platform and credit card system to ensure customers access, speed, security and quality service," said Mohamed.