SAMA says 4.8 mln accounts opened remotely without verifying customer identity in 2021

Logo of Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) revealed that over 4.84 million accounts were opened remotely without verifying the customer's identification number matches the identity number of the mobile user in 2021.

In a report on "The most prominent financial fraud methods in 2021," the central bank said that these accounts constitute 55% of the total accounts opened remotely.

The most prominent challenges that contributed to the increase in financial fraud cases were weaknesses in the process control systems (PCS), which created an obstacle in the early detection and reduction of fraud cases.

In addition, the insufficient investment in the anti-fraud systems infrastructure using artificial intelligence (AI) and studying customer behavior, as well as the lack of procedures to verify that the IBAN and the name of the beneficiary match deepened financial fraud cases.

There is a severe shortcoming in tracking the funds, resulting from fraud operations to stop them before transferring outside the Kingdom, in addition to a weakness in the procedures and mechanisms for receiving and dealing with fraud reports in terms of monitoring, investigations and reports.

In addition, there is a weak procedure for recording the types, methods, numbers and sizes of fraud cases, including the victim's data and fraud beneficiary.

The report pointed out that there is a shortage of qualified cadres in the anti-financial fraud units, and the weak efficiency of customer awareness programs in terms of the material and channels used, as well as the development of indicators, to measure their effectiveness.

According to data compiled by Argaam, SAMA recently confirmed that banks operating in the Kingdom should implement a bundle of precautionary measures to combat financial fraud and protect those dealing with banks, based on the central bank system’s objectives related to supporting the banking sector’ stability and enhancing confidence in it.