KIB taps Visa Ready for fintech

Kuwait International Bank (KIB), a sharia-compliant financial institution based in Kuwait, has announced its participation in the Visa Ready for Fintech Enablement program. This move aims to offer comprehensive support to both fintech companies and traditional issuers in Kuwait, expediting their digital issuance processes and meeting the demands for technology-driven strategies. Through its partnership with Visa, KIB will extend card issuance solutions to fintech firms and non-banking entities within the country.

Under its innovative Banking as a Service (BaaS) approach, KIB is revolutionising the financial landscape by introducing a comprehensive Card as a Service (CaaS) program to its esteemed B2B partners. As part of this comprehensive solution, KIB will provide Program Management services and Payment Infrastructure Services to partners seeking to deliver exceptional card services to their customer base.

In a remarkable achievement, KIB has become the first bank in Kuwait to join Visa Ready, thereby offering the CaaS program across diverse industries. This groundbreaking initiative enables airlines, telecommunications companies, exchange houses, fintech firms, and retailers to leverage KIB’s expertise and tap into the immense potential of card services.

The Visa Ready certification serves as a testament to KIB’s unwavering commitment to excellence and adherence to the highest industry standards. By attaining this certification, KIB distinguishes itself as the pioneering bank in Kuwait to participate in this innovative program, ensuring its partners benefit from the utmost security, reliability, and trust.

KIB’s CaaS program has been thoughtfully designed to unlock a wide range of use cases and value propositions for its partners. With unrivalled versatility, partners can harness the power of an extensive selection of prepaid programs, including both single and multi-currency card offerings. These programs can be seamlessly delivered through various formats, encompassing physical and digital mediums, catering to the evolving needs of customers in today’s digital era.

Through the Visa Ready Fintech Enablement Program, KIB gains access to Visa’s expanding partner network, benefiting from increased awareness, go-to-market support to explore new markets, and access to newly launched Visa products and solutions. For more information about the Visa Ready program, interested parties can find further details.

Mohammed El Shareef, GM Digital Transformation & Innovation, expressed his excitement regarding the collaboration between KIB and Visa, highlighting it as a significant milestone for the Kuwaiti banking industry. El Shareef believes that through this partnership, KIB can revolutionise card services, providing its partners with cutting-edge solutions and empowering them to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Ankush Devadason, Visa’s Head of Financial Institutions for Kuwait, expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating that it would enable fintech clients to enhance customer experiences in Kuwait more efficiently than ever before. Devadason expressed Visa’s delight in granting KIB the Visa Ready BIN Sponsorship certification and their anticipation of collaborating with KIB to develop the capabilities needed by fintech firms to expand the digitally connected payments ecosystem in Kuwait.