ATM compromise: Yes Bank says vendors need to do more

In wake of a system-wide security scare triggered by a malware attack on systems of its vendor Hitachi Payment Systems, Yes Bank sought to distanceitself from the breach and stressed on need to police service providers in a better way.

"There needs to be a lot more vigilance where there are outsourcing partners to make sure they don't endanger the delivery and system risk, and there's a fair amount of policing as far as outsourcing risks are concerned," its managing director and chief executive Rana Kapoor told reporters here.

According to media reports, systems of Hitachi Payment Systems which counts on Yes Bank as one of its major customers, are suspected to have been breached.

Asserting that there has not been breaches with the bank, Kapoor said there is a need for vigilance on the outsourced aspects because a bank does not do every function in-house.

Kapoor also exuded confidence in the security architecture of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), calling it as the finest in the world.

Following the discovery of the breach, he said the bank has initiated some cautionary measures to ensure that its customers do not get affected. ..

A bank spokesperson said after the suspected breach came to light for the first time, it had advised all its customers to change their secret personal identification numbers (PINs).

Also, to ensure that they indeed change the PINs and minimise the risk, it capped withdrawal at Rs 5,000 per transaction till the PIN gets changed.

According to reports, over 32 lakh cards stand at risk following the suspected security breach and banks have taken a slew of actions to thwart any untoward possibilities by either replacing the cards or asking them to change the PINs.


Source : Economic Times

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Airtel Payments Bank to begin operations from Q2

Airtel M-Commerce Services, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel (Airtel), on Tuesday said it has been renamed as Airtel Payments Bank after receiving the necessary approvals from all concerned authorities.

The company also unveiled a new logo to reflect its new identity. The company plans to start rolling out its banking network in the second quarter of the current financial year, it said in a statement.

On April 11, Airtel Payments Bank received a payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India. It plans to leverage on Airtel’s national distribution network in the rural areas and offer a platform to deliver banking services to the last mile.

Currently, the Airtel distribution channel is spread across 15-lakh outlets covering around 87 per cent of the country’s population.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired 19.90 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank for around Rs98.8 crore.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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YES Bank cuts lending rate

YES Bank has reduced its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points across all tenors. The MCLR for one year now stands at 9.5 per cent, against 9.6 per cent earlier. The MCLR cut is effective from May 1. On Monday, State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, announced a five basis points cut in its MCLR across maturities. After the cut, SBI’s one-year MCLR now stands at 9.15 per cent, against 9.20 per cent earlier. Once the MCLR is pared, all loans linked to it, including home, car, personal, and education, become a tad cheaper.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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BEFI extends support to strike call by RRB employees

The Bank Employees' Federation of India (BEFI) today came out in support of a two-day national strike by employees and officers of regional rural banks ( RRBs) protesting against the government's move of alleged privatisation on March 10-11.

"The union supports the genuine demands of RRB employees and appeals to the central government to stop privatisation moves and resolve the long pending issues of the employees," said P Venkataramaiah, General Secretary, BEFI, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in a statement here.

"We appeal all the bank employees and general public to support the RRB employees as they are going on strike as the last resort after failing in all their attempts to resolve the issues amicably," BEFI said.

BEFI had also submitted a detailed memorandum to the finance minister to look into the "dangers" of the proposed amendments to the RBI Act, it added.



Source : Economic Times

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RRB employees call two-day strike on Thursday and Friday

Regional rural banks (RRB) employees and officers have called for a two-day all India strike on Thursday and Friday to protest against the government's plan to privatise these entities and outsourcing of banking services. They are also demanding pension-provident fund facilities in line with mainstream commercial banks.

All India Rural Bank Employees' Association said that rural banking services would come to a halt on these two days as employees of 56 RRBs will join the strike.

RRBs have about 2000 branches across the country. They are also demanding introduction of compassionate appointment scheme in line with sponsor banks retrospective effect and uniform and equal gratuity payment scheme.



Source : Economic Times

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