KNet set to modify access to gateway

04/05/2026

KUWAIT CITY, May 4: As part of its development and modernization plan, the Shared Automated Banking Services Company (KNet) announced an update to its electronic payment gateway, effective June 5. Users will now be able to directly enter their bank card number without being required to select their bank name.

Through this step, KNet aims to keep pace with global developments in digital payments and enable the use of additional payment methods in the future. This upgrade serves several purposes, most importantly enhancing the services offered through its electronic payment gateway. KNet provides automated banking services to all Kuwaiti banks and adopts the latest technologies across various automated banking services. It is noteworthy that the KNet update had already been in place around 15 years ago, when the company’s electronic payment gateway did not include a bank name selection option. With the increasing risk of bank account hacking in the period prior to the introduction of the One-Time Password (OTP), company officials decided to add the bank name selection option to reduce potential security risks.

However, after the implementation of enhanced banking security measures, including OTP authentication, these concerns diminished. As a result, the list of bank names was later introduced. It is clear, however, that this procedure is not applied globally. Practical experience has shown that, with the evolution of financial fraud methods, maintaining a list of bank names may provide hackers with a better opportunity to guess the remaining six digits of bank account numbers. Providing a bank selection list may increase exposure of partial account details, which could assist in unauthorized access attempts.

Therefore, the main motivation behind KNet’s update to its electronic payment gateway is to allow users to directly enter their bank card number without being presented with a bank selection menu, in line with global developments. This step aims to reduce the risk of exposing banking information and enhance the overall security of customer data.

Technically, this update aims to bridge the gap caused by similar bank account numbers. Although rare, similarities in customer card numbers between different banks are possible. The existence of a bank selection list in the KNet payment gateway may preserve this possibility, even if the likelihood is very low.

The second reason is that this step supports the development of the company’s network infrastructure. It facilitates the potential integration of foreign banks into KNet’s payment system, instead of limiting it to Kuwaiti banks only. This update also enables the future adoption of additional payment methods, such as digital wallets, whether personal or operated by payment companies, provided they are licensed by the Central Bank of Kuwait. About the possibility of activating this step soon, reliable sources explained that there is no specific plan in place for this expansion, but the mere approval of this update opens the door for KNet to add foreign banks to its payment network.