Futurex and Kenex have entered into a strategic partnership to deliver secure, compliant, and high-performance RTGS payment security solutions for banks across Africa, combining Futurex’s enterprise-class hardware security modules (HSMs) with Kenex’s SWIFT connectivity and financial messaging expertise.
San Antonio, Texas – April 14th, 2026 – Futurex, a global leader in enterprise data encryption and payment HSM technology, and Kenex, an ISO-certified ICT provider specializing in SWIFT connectivity and financial messaging for banks across Africa, today announced a strategic partnership to strengthen the security, reliability, and compliance of RTGS payment infrastructure across the region.
The partnership brings together Futurex’s network-attached, certified HSMs with Kenex’s long-standing experience in SWIFT services, bureau connectivity, and bespoke payment solutions, enabling banks and financial institutions to secure RTGS transaction signing, key management, and interbank settlement operations from a single, integrated platform. By combining local implementation expertise with globally recognized cryptographic technology, the joint offering helps institutions meet tightening regional RTGS and hardware security mandates while improving resilience and performance for high-value, real-time payments.
Value for regional banking
Kenex has been supporting banks in Africa since 2002, providing SWIFT connectivity, bureau services, and document management solutions that allow institutions to connect securely and cost-effectively to the global financial network. Through this new collaboration, Kenex has integrated Futurex HSMs into its payments infrastructure, adding hardware-backed cryptography for RTGS signing, authentication, and encryption, as well as centralized key lifecycle management.
The joint solution is designed to help banks:
- Align with regional RTGS and network HSM regulations and guidelines, while avoiding costly, time-consuming bespoke integrations.
- Protect payment integrity, authenticity, and auditability end-to-end with secure transaction signing and high-assurance cryptographic controls for all RTGS flows.
- Leverage Kenex’s private, multi-country connectivity, including wireless, microwave, fiber optic, and MPLS links, alongside Futurex’s high-availability HSM architecture to support always-on RTGS and interbank settlement.
- Simplify audits and compliance with centralized key management and standardized security modules built on Futurex’s FIPS- and PCI PTS-certified hardware, consistently deployed across the entire payment environment.
By embedding HSM-backed security directly into Kenex’s payment services, banks can modernize their RTGS environments with minimal disruption while maintaining the level of service continuity, security, and cost-efficiency that Kenex’s customers expect.
Managing Director of Kenex, said:
“Kenex has spent over twenty years helping banks cut costs and work more efficiently with reliable SWIFT and payment services,” said Vasu Prakasam, Managing Director at Kenex. “Integrating Futurex HSMs into our RTGS and messaging services is the next step, giving our customers stronger built-in security for high-value real-time payments and an infrastructure ready for future regulatory and technology changes across Africa.”
“Kenex’s track record and local expertise make them a trusted partner for banks modernizing RTGS,” said Joseph Ongoro, Regional Sales Director, East Africa at Futurex. “Together, we’re giving institutions a low-risk way to meet new security requirements, strengthen resilience, and build greater trust with their customers.”
About KENEX
Kenex is an ISO-certified ICT company based in Westlands, Nairobi, providing software and connectivity solutions for banks and financial institutions across Africa and worldwide. Its portfolio includes SWIFT connectivity bureau services, Customized Software Solutions for SWIFT message management, and specialized payment solutions delivered over a secure private network spanning multiple countries.
About Futurex
For over 40 years, Futurex has been an award-winning leader and innovator in the encryption market, delivering uncompromising enterprise-class data security solutions. Over 15,000 organizations worldwide trust Futurex to provide groundbreaking hardware security modules, key management servers, and cloud HSM solutions.
Futurex is headquartered outside of San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices worldwide and over a dozen data centers across five continents. Futurex delivers unmatched support for its clients’ mission-critical data encryption and key management requirements.