Kuwait Finance House (KFH) organized an innovative social experiment to measure university students banking awareness and provide awareness advice on cyber risks to protect their banking accounts and information. The experiment comes as part of the awareness campaign “Be Aware” launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait in collaboration with the Kuwait Banking Association, and part of the bank’s social responsibility.

The experiment focused on testing the banking information of some university students to enhance their banking awareness and shed light on the fraudulence acts which customers may be exposed to through various methods including SMS, e-mail, phone calls or social media channels.

KFH conducted the awareness experiment in Kuwait University campus. The experiment took the form of a competition requiring participants to enter their information to be able to enter the draw, win a cash prize and share the one-time OTP with KFH employee. Students had different reactions. KFH officer confirmed to the participating students that KFH would not ask for the personal information of any of its customers through e-mail, SMS, or phone calls. He reiterated that such messages should be ignored and avoided as they represent fraudulence attempts to obtain their banking information and steal their funds or information.

He reiterated that they should not share the OTP with anybody and to beware of e-links as the mere click on the link may jeopardize their confidential banking information. He gave them some advice which, if applied by customer, could protect his bank account e.g., not to store any confidential information (ATM No., Credit Card No., personal identification No.) on mobile or to write the password on the card or share it with any party. Also, he advised them to log out from the bank’s application or the website once transaction is completed.

Students, followers, and the public reacted significantly and positively with the experiment. Several official authorities praised the experiment. The Central Bank of Kuwait praised the quality of the content, idea, execution of the experiment and reposted it on its social media channels.

KFH is continuing to support the “Be Aware” campaign to protect customers rights, spread awareness in this respect, enhance best practices and spread awareness on the banking services provided by the bank. The bank supports various related campaigns by posting educational videos and materials and awareness messages on KFH social media channels and various communication points with the public. Also, the bank explains the mechanisms of filing complaints and protecting customers rights.

The campaign “Be Aware” comprises various topics: recognizing  the bank’s role as a financial mediator, the significance of saving and investment, how to benefit from products provided by banks, awareness on customer’s rights when obtaining individual finance facilities e.g. consumer or residential finance, services provided to persons with special needs, the mechanism to file complaints regarding banking services, various banking cards, the most important steps to be applied to avoid being exposed to fraud, and other topics to ensure providing integrated awareness to the public and customers.