The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) revealed that there are regarding 4.84 million accounts opened remotely without verifying that the customer’s identity number matches the identity number used in the mobile network. The percentage of accounts opened remotely without verifying that the mobile number matches the user’s identity is regarding 55% of the total accounts. SAMA acknowledged that there is a shortage of qualified cadres in the anti-financial fraud units, with a weakness in counting the types, methods, numbers and sizes of all fraud cases, including the victim and beneficiary data of fraud, with a severe shortcoming in tracking funds resulting from fraud to stop them before Its exit outside the Kingdom, with weak procedures and mechanisms for receiving and dealing with fraud reports in terms of monitoring, investigations and reports, and poor efficiency of customer awareness programs in terms of the material and channels used, as well as weak operations control systems, which created a challenge in detecting fraud cases early and reducing them.
And starting today (Sunday), the Central Bank prevented residents from international transfers when the account was not activated through the branch or from self-service machines (fingerprint), while suspending international transfers executed through the electronic service for a period of 24 hours for the first time, and for a period of two hours for a beneficiary to whom the transfer was previously made. The maximum limit for purchasing transactions for previously undocumented accounts has been set to 20,000 riyals. As for customers outside the Kingdom, the bank can set up a mechanism to document the account and raise the upper limit with the bank bearing the risks. The Central Bank had directed banks and banks that the daily transfer limit through electronic services for all segments of bank customers is 60,000 riyals.
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