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Kuwait’s real-time pay ment scheme WAMD sur passes 1 mln accounts in first year
Kuwait’s real-time pay ment scheme WAMD sur passes 1 mln

accounts in first year

Arab Times · 17 Jul 2025

KUAWIT CITY, July 16: ACI World wide (NASDAQ: ACIW), an ori ginal innov ator in global pay -

ments tech no logy,and the Shared Elec tronic Bank ing Ser vices Com pany “KNET”, the pro -

vider of elec tronic pay ment ser vices in Kuwait, today announced that WAMD, Kuwait’s real-

time pay ment sys tem,recor ded sig ni fic ant growth in the num ber of trans ac tions executed
since its launch in June of 2024, mak ing WAMD one of the world’s most rap idly adop ted real-

time pay ment ini ti at ives.

KNET util ized ACI’s Digital Cent ral Infra struc ture solu tion to build the cent ral pay ment infra -

struc ture of WAMD, an inter op er able, coun try wide scheme that enables accountto-account

(A2A) pay ment trans fers via a bank’s mobile app or inter net bank ing ser vice by using a
phone num ber. WAMD was imple men ted in less than 15 months, rede fin ing the pace for rapid

digital trans form a tion and innov a tion. Banks in Kuwait have lauded the scheme for deliv er -

ing a seam less and user-friendly dif fer en ti ated cus tomer bank ing exper i ence. With 100% of

the coun try’s banks now on board with WAMD, this extraordin ary growth in real-time pay -

ments is expec ted to con tinue.

“As real-time pay ments become ubi quit ous in Kuwait, con sumers have grav it ated toward

secure, real-time pay ment meth ods, reshap ing habits around con veni ence and effi ciency
while redu cing reli ance on cash. KNET’s primary stra tegic focus is to provide a safe and reli -

able pay ment envir on ment by enhan cing exist ing infra struc ture, devel op ing innov at ive pay -

ment sys tems, and improv ing ser vice effi ciency domest ic ally and region ally,” said Esam

Alkhesh nam, KNET’s Chief Exec ut ive Officer.
Alkhesh nam added that “IPS in Kuwait was given the name ‘WAMD,’ which trans lates to

light ning flash – an indic a tion of the speed of the ser vice. WAMD, which is avail able on the

bank ing applic a tion of all local banks, has gained trac tion from the start with one mil lion

registered users dur ing the first quarter of the launch of WAMD.
“As soon as we intro duced the ser vice to Kuwait, we began out lining the next phase of IPS in

Kuwait, which will build on the suc cess of phase one.Together with ACI World wide, being one

of our stra tegic part ners, KNET is com mit ted to adopt ing state-of-the-art tech no lo gies in

digital pay ments, adher ing to the highest global stand ards.” Aligned with KNET’s mis sion of

sup port ing Kuwait’s national vis ion for digital trans form a tion, longer-term stra tegic ini ti at -

ives include the integ ra tion of Kuwait’s fintech play ers to WAMD and enabling A2A real-time

pay ments in their Elec tronic Fund Trans fer Point-of-Sale ter min als using dynamic QR codes.

KNET is also look ing at imple ment ing the “Request to Pay” ser vice to stream line pay ment

oper a tions for web mer chants and provide a safer, enhanced eco m merce shop ping exper i-
ence for Kuwaitis.

Kuwait’s evol u tion into a real-time pay ment power house is set to fur ther pro pel the Middle

East’s pos i tion as a leader in pay ments mod ern iz a tion. Accord ing to ACI’s Prime Time for

Real-Time 2024 report, which tracks global real-time pay ment volumes and growth fore -

casts, the Middle East has been recog nized as the fast est-grow ing real-time pay ments mar -
https://www.pressreader.com/kuwait/arab-times/20250717/282029038258271?srsltid=AfmBOooHDlmlhZzruzUpBGfvZ6lvd3YPvedQOzV9vJ0z0R… 1/2