By Lwazi Dlamini
FNB Eswatini says it is investing in cutting edge technology coupled with enhanced consumer education to respond to growing fraud scams otherwise known as ‘facata’ across Eswatini.
According to Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Gugu Matiwane, the bank has intensified efforts to double-down on fraud in a bid to protect both its customers and staff. Matiwane was speaking during an FNB Press Play event at House on Fire on Tuesday, in which the bank’s management, led by CEO Thokozani ‘TK’ Dlamini engaged with local media on topical issues.
“We understand that charity begins at home and one of the things we have focused on is consistent and relevant training for our staff to ensure that they, themselves, are capacitated and do not fall prey to financial scams.
We do this through a variety of in-house trainings. One of these was done recently in partnership with the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). We believe that when our people are capacitated, they are in a stronger position to help our customers and wider society,” she said.
Matiwane then highlighted that the bank had also taken the step to vigorously take such trainings to where emaSwati are.
“While we have always done awareness via our social media pages, we have now decided to add a few more layers to our plan and be risk-based in approach.
In December, we visited two textile firms in Matsapha and hosted fraud awareness activations in their spaces, which gave us a great platform to engage directly with our customers and even those who do not bank with us,” she added.
Matiwane added that the bank would be continuing with such roadshows. “We know that awareness must go together with leveraging technology.
As such, we have introduced models which track customer behaviour and allow us, where necessary, to take intervention before fraud happens,” Matiwane said.
She the urged FNB’s customers and the entire nation to be wary of people who impersonate police officers or bank officials and pressurise targeted individuals to transfer money “for safety” and share OTPs which are then used to steal the funds.
“We strongly encourage our customers to pause, verify, and confirm any suspicious communication by contacting the bank directly through official channels, such as the toll-free line 800 6100.
It is also important to report fraud as early as possible, as compromised accounts can remain vulnerable if the bank is not alerted,” she concluded.
