Commercial banks in Kuwait have expanded their monitoring of funds transferred through the ‘WAMD’—Kuwait’s real-time payment (RTP) service—and through links using the KNET payment gateway, as part of strengthened regulatory measures aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Regulatory authorities have reportedly increased oversight of commercial transactions conducted through personal accounts, particularly those used to deposit business proceeds via ‘WAMD’ or through using payment links.

Bank scrutiny of transactions now extends to any unusual inflows into individual customer accounts, even single, one-time transactions, if the amounts are significant or appear inconsistent with the account holder’s financial profile. Transfers that exceed the customer’s declared income in the bank’s Know Your Customer (KYC) data by notable margins are being closely examined. In such cases, customers are first questioned by their respective banks.

If their explanations fail to justify the source of funds, the matter is escalated to the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) for further review, especially when the deposits clearly do not match the individual’s recorded income. Banking sources emphasize that personal accounts must not be used for business or commercial transactions, revealing that investigations have already been launched against individuals whose account activity showed inflows exceeding their reported income.

Some were found to be receiving proceeds from their employers’ business operations and were subsequently required to sign formal pledges not to use personal accounts for commercial transfers in future.