KOCHI: Panic gripped thousands of debit card holders in the state with three Kerala banks - State Bank of Travancore, Federal Bank and South Indian Bank - reporting that over 30,000 debit cards have been compromised in the biggest security breach in the country. Around 32 lakh ATM cards have been allegedly compromised across the country.
Meanwhile, banks are in the process of issuing new chip cards and are advising customers to change PIN numbers frequently. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has already distributed details of cards which may have got compromised with respective banks.
“We have instructed our 45 lakh card holders to change their PIN numbers when the first incident of skimming
was reported a few months ago. Now we are in the process of replacing 18,000 cards, which we suspect to have been compromised. The issuing of cards will be completed by the end of this month,” said Babu K A, AGM, Federal Bank.
State Bank of Travancore, the largest bank in Kerala, will replace 6,000 debit cards, in 10 days.
“We have initiated steps to replace these cards and the official back-end procedures will be completed in three days. New cards will reach customers in 7 to 10 days. If the customer finds his/her card blocked, he/she can visit the nearest branch and withdraw the money. They can also use the Easy Pay Card available at the branch from Thursday,” said Prakash, AGM, State Bank of Travancore. Bank officials also advised customers to change the ATM PIN number and to replace magnetic ATM cards with chips cards, which are safe. Altogether SBT had issued 1.15 crore ATM cards in the country.
It is suspected that around 5,000 South Indian Bank (SIB) cards have been compromised. “We have received details about the security breach from NCPI, VISA and Master Cards. Now the bank is in the process of replacing the ATM cards with chip cards and it will be completed in 10 days. Our Fraud Risk Management system is constantly monitoring the procedures,” said an officer. “When I tried to withdraw money from the ATM, my card was not working. I contacted the branch and they informed me that the card was blocked due to suspicious transactions. I am yet to receive a new card,” said Paul, an SBI customer in Kochi.