- Al Rayan Bank, a UK subsidiary of Qatar-based Masraf Al Rayan, has partnered with Obconnect to enhance payment security and combat fraud.
- The bank integrated Obconnect’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CoP solution, allowing its business and premier customers to verify payment recipients’ credentials before completing transactions.
- Al Rayan Bank offers Sharia-compliant commercial banking services and is regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
- In October, the PRA directed Al Rayan Bank and 31 other UK payment service providers to implement a Confirmation of Payee (CoP) system by October 2023.
- This directive is an expansion of Specific Direction 10 (SD10) issued to major UK banking groups in 2019 to reduce authorized push payment (APP) fraud and misdirected payments.
- The PRA prioritizes rapid CoP implementation by large financial firms to prevent APP scams.
- Al Rayan Bank had a 12-month notice to comply with the PRA’s CoP requirements, leading to its partnership with Obconnect.
- In January, the FCA fined the bank £4 million for inadequate anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
