Alinma Bank has signed an agreement with Visa whereby Shariah-compliant Visa card services would be delivered to holders of Alinma cards.The signing ceremony took place at the head office of Alinma Bank in Riyadh on Tuesday, January 22, 2013. In attendance were Mr. Abdulmohsen Al-Fares, the CEO of Alinma Bank, and Mr. Kamran Siddiqi, the General Manager of Visa in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
With this first of its kind agreement, Alinma becomes the first bank in the Middle East, Central Europe and Africa to issue smart chip ATM cards to its partnersinstantly in its branches. This achievement reflects the bank’s dedicationto providing its partners with unprecedented, premium services that savethem time and effort.
Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Abdulmohsen Al-Fares saidit was Alinma’s mission to continually bring value to its partners and that bank employees were constantly encouraged to develop new and innovative services. He also noted that that Alinma cards provide partners with the ability to both activate and deactivate the CVV2 feature for Internet purchases via the bank’s Alinma Internet and Alinma Phone services.
Mr. Kamran Siddiqi said that he was pleased with the strategic partnership with Alinma, which improves payment services in the Saudi market. He pointed out that the agreement would pave the way for both parties to launch a series of quality services and products that meet customer aspirations in the market and exceed their expectations.
It is worth mentioning that Alinma ATM and credit cards utilizeEMV technology (smart cards), which uses anelectronic chip, thus providing a level of security not found with the use of traditional magnetic strip cards.
Alinma Bank offers its fullyShariah-compliant banking services through a network of 88 branches for men and women. Its services are also available through its complete range of electronic channels, which include Alinma Internet (www.alinma.com), Alinma Phone (8001208000) and Alinma’skingdom-wide network of 650ATMs.