Equity accuses group of foul play in thin SIM case

Corporate News

A member of the House Committee on Communication and Energy tries out a thin SIM card during a hearing on September 5, 2014. PHOTO | FILE 

By BRIAN WASUNA

In Summary

• The bank yesterday told Justice George Odunga that Kituo cha Sheria selectively picked evidence from a similar suit filed by businessman Bernard Murage to convince the judge to stop issuing SIM cards on December 17.

Equity Bank has accused a human rights lobby of hoodwinking the High Court into issuing an order stopping the issue of its thin SIM cards, which it expects to ride on for its entry into the mobile banking industry.

The bank yesterday told Justice George Odunga that Kituo cha Sheria selectively picked evidence from a similar suit filed by businessman Bernard Murage to convince the judge to stop issuing SIM cards on December 17. Mr Murage filed the suit in October, which was heard by Justice Isaac Lenaola who will deliver judgment on January 22.

“The existence of the other suit was not drawn to the court. In obtaining the orders of December 17, Kituo cha Sheria failed to disclose material facts to the court by annexing incomplete documents as evidence. Kituo cha Sheria’s petition constituted an abuse of the court process,” Equity said. The thin SIM cards are overlaid on subscribers’ primary SIM cards, which allows them to access mobile money transfer services.

Justice Lenaola, however, declined to bar the release of the special SIM cards.

READ: Court stops rollout of Equity Bank’s thin SIMs

Equity holds that Kituo cha Sheria also failed to inform Justice Odunga of Mr Murage’s suit, which is also challenging the use of the thin SIM cards, which the bank insists is an abuse of the justice system.

Concerns

Kituo cha Sheria had said in court papers that it was forced to move to court citing security concerns in the use of the SIM cards, arguing that they can intercept data from a phone’s primary SIM card and transmit it to third parties without the consent of a user.

The lobby has sued the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and enjoined Equity as an interested party through its subsidiary, Finserve Africa Limited.

Equity says it has invested heavily to meet standards. The lobby however reckons that Equity’s clients are being used as guinea pigs, as the security risks alleged to be posed by the technology will be monitored after the SIM cards are in use.

CA advertised a tender for evaluation of the security risks posed by the technology, which will run for one year after its release. The regulator approved Equity’s licence to use the technology in August.

“CA has advertised for consultancy services to undertake evaluation of performance and security features of SIM cards in Kenya. The decision to permit the use of the thin SIM technology prior to a complete satisfaction as to its security is unlawful,” Kituo cha Sheria said.

Equity has maintained that the technology is safe for use by its clients as it has been approved by the international regulator, Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, in several European and Asian countries.