RBI has strictly directed banks to make mobile and phone banking safer to avert identity frauds in non branch banking services.
The banks will now have to install an extra cover guaranteeing the legitimacy of the customer carrying out the debit or credit card transaction through the phone. If they fail to do so then they would be fined, the RBI has warned.
The RBI has said that banks will have to set up a system by next year in which the debit and credit card customers will have to give an extra password for IVR ( Interactive Voice Response) transactions.
After the new security step the customer will have to dial another extra password to verify the transaction other than the information which he had previously used for the transaction.
This step was taken to stem the increasing number of frauds using non branch methods. From April 2009, RBI had asked the banks to provide an extra verification based on the details not evident on the cards, in case the card was not physically present.
Now it plans to extend this measure to include IVR transactions.
These security codes would vary from those seen on the cards.
The banks would also be setting up a system of ‘Online Alerts’ to the cardholder for the transactions where ‘card is not present’ worth Rs. 5000 and more.