State Bank of India(SBI) launches ‘Nation First Transit Card’ for digital fare payments

The State Bank of India, country’s largest lender, has launched the ‘Nation First Transit Card’ facilitate the seamless and convenient customer commuting experience and ensure easy digital ticketing fare payments in metro, buses, water ferries, parking, etc., through a single card.

In addition, individuals can also use this card for making retail and e-commerce payments.

“At SBI, we are constantly strive to make banking and everyday life simpler for our customers. The Nation First Transit Card powered by RuPay and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) technology, is set to revolutionize the commuting experience and is aligned with the national vision of “One Nation One Card", Dinesh Kumar Khara, chairman, SBI said.

“We are proud to introduce a card that not only eases the lives of our customers but also contributes to the growth of our country," the SBI chairman added.

India’s largest lender said it is also implementing NCMC based ticketing solution in MMRC Metro Line 3 and Agra Metro, which is in the advanced stage of execution and will be available to the public very soon.

SBI entered NCMC programs with transit operators in 2019. As a part of these NCMC programs, SBI successfully launched the “City1 Card", “Nagpur Metro MAHA Card", “MUMBAI1 Card", “GoSmart Card" and “Singara Chennai Card" in Noida Metro, Nagpur Metro, MMRDA Metro Lines 2A & 7, Kanpur Metro and Chennai Metro respectively.

State Bank of India is the largest mortgage lender in the country. The home loan portfolio of the bank has crossed ₹6.53 lakh crore. As of June 2023, the bank has a deposit base of over ₹45.31 lakh crore with CASA ratio of 42.88 per cent and advances of more than ₹33 lakh crore. SBI commands a market share of 33.4% and 19.5% in home loans and auto loans respectively.

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How ATM card related frauds are happening, Know Do's & Don't for such transactions

In all ATM transactions we opt for printed slip (most of us including customer) throw the printed slip in dustbin without tearing off or destroyed properly. All these slip have last digits of ATM card as well as account Number and balance of account. When the fraudsters disclose account balance,  we get confidence in the caller without suspicion. Sol ID mentioned in the slip confirm branch name.

Any person having little smartness can find branch Name with the help of sol ID. In all POS transactions only last four digit is printed on slip for customer convenience. If the caller is having all the details than why he or she wants OTP number and why we have to trust ? OTP number should not be disclosed to any one at any cost. RBI gives advertisement every day on TV advising not to share card number, password,OTP etc with any one.

Bank has referred few number of callers to be blocked by the telecom service providers with the help of cyber crime branch of Mumbai police. But blocking few numbers can not resolve the problem.

We all are happy to share our personal details on social media like Facebook, whatsapp, twitter etc. We also download lots of apps and allow the apps to access our address book, messages , camera, photos etc. Even we allow the apps knowingly or unknowingly to reset or change the mobile settings, which starts sending all the personal details to the criminals or fraudsters.

We happily provide details to the shopping mall to win surprise gift through lucky draw which includes our mobile number as well as email address. We provide correct date of birth on social media and forward sms at the request of fraudsters which enables them to clone the sim also. We search branch number on google map instead of Banks website which is like inviting the fraudsters at home.

Some times customer writes complete account number and card number on social media specially on Face Book page. In case of sim clone the fraudsters get account balance and wins the customer confidence.

Never share any information to any caller (known + unknown) regarding your ATM CARD and / or account details.

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Cosmos Bank loses Rs 94 crore in malware attack, How hackers siphoned?

Few outside Maharashtra would have heard of Cosmos Bank. But hackers did — and they targeted the over-a-century-old Pune-headquartered co-operative bank in a multi-pronged attack to transfer over Rs 94 crore over multiple days to foreign bank accounts. 

About Rs 78 crore was withdrawn in more than 12,000 ATM transactions in 28 countries between 3 pm and 10 pm, India time, on Saturday, Cosmos Bank said. Another 2,800 transactions were made in different places within India, amounting to about Rs 2.5 crore, during the same period. On Monday, Rs 13.5 crore was transferred to a Hong Kong-based entity using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunications (SWIFT) facility.

Milind Kale, chairman of the 112-year-old cooperative bank, said the illegal withdrawals were enabled by a malware attack which authenticated debit card transactions bypassing the bank’s computerised core banking system (CBS). This would have been preceded by another cyber attack, resulting in data theft of hundreds of the bank’s debit cards. The information on these debit cards would then have been cloned on to fake cards used in physical withdrawal of cash from ATMs across the world.

Payment experts say the fraud involved breaching the firewall in servers that authorize ATM transactions. After this, a proxy server was created and transactions authorized by the fake or proxy server. This meant that the ATMs were being directed to release money without checking whether the cards were genuine or whether there was a bank account. 

Target 1: The first attack, on August 11, is thought to have targeted the bank’s debit cards and the ATM Switch — a system that lets, among other things, withdraw cash from, and change card pins of, your bank account at an ATM of a different bank. Most banks in India uses the National Financial Switch (NFS) ATM system of the NPCI.

Method: The hackers are thought to have cloned VISA and RuPay (of NPCI’s) debit cards to make the transactions, and attacked the switch to verify them. Bank says the cards were not customers’, but dummy cards — suggesting hackers “linked” the dummy cards to the bank using the compromised switch. A total of 14,849 transactions of value over Rs 80 crore — 12,000 transactions of Rs 78 crore on VISA cards outside India and the rest of RuPay cards — were made using the method. VISA says it was “able to identify the issue quickly, enabling the financial institution to take appropriate action”. 

Target 2: Once this was flagged, hackers, on August 13, attacked another payment system banks use: SWIFT, which validates international money transfer. On August 13, hackers transferred Rs 13.94 crore from Cosmos to an account with a Hong Kong-bank.

The hunt: The bank has registered an FIR at the local police station; and says the preliminary probe shows the attack originated in Canada. But the sophistication of the attacks suggests the hackers are no amateurs, and thus less likely to leave a trace. (Hackers use proxy servers to mask the location of their computers)

Cosmos Bank chairman Milind Kale said, “The bank turned off its servers and all internet banking applications after noticing several erratic and abnormally high transactions. These transactions happened over two hours and 13 minutes and were spread across 28 countries where cloned cards were used to debit several amounts ranging from $100 (Rs 6,900) to $2,500 (Rs 1.7 lakh).”

‘Customer money is safe in their accounts’

Cosmos Bank reassured its customers on Tuesday that their money was safe in their accounts and they would be able to access it digitally and via ATMs once the systems are restored in a few days. For now, the bank has made provisions for NEFT and RTGS payments through its branches. Pay-in slip payment and cheque disbursals will continue as earlier. The bank said the fraud appears to have originated in Canada. 

Source-Times of India

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Mystery of bank fraud in Kolkata, Bank customer losing money as ATM skimming racket

The police said three specific cases had been started in Gariahat, Tiljala and Beniapukur police stations. In one case linked to a Canara Bank ATM at Golpark, the police suspect that a cloned card had been used to withdraw the cash.

Asked how the cloned cards can be used since a confidential four-digit PIN had to be keyed in to finish the withdrawal, an officer speculated that a spy camera might have been used to record the hand movements, from which the PIN may have been deduced.

"It appears that fraudsters may have installed a spy camera in the ATM that could capture the hand movement as someone punches the PIN. However, all this is subject to verification," the officer said.

Another officer said a skimmer and a hidden camera could be installed only at ATM kiosks that are unguarded. The CCTV footage of the ATM counters where the complainants used their debit cards will be scanned, sources said.

In 2011, the RBI had cautioned that the majority of cards issued by banks were magnetic stripe cards and data stored on such cards are vulnerable to skimming and cloning. Several banks are in advanced stages of replacing the old cards.

"There has been no breach of data from the bank's end. Somehow, sensitive data relating to the customer's cards were obtained. Police complaints have been filed by the account holders and they have also informed the bank. We are investigating this issue and our headquarters has been informed. At the moment, it is not possible to disclose a cumulative amount," said a city-based Canara Bank official.

The official added that the customers' deposits are insured by Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation and within two to three days, the bank hoped to take action on the fraud.

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How to secure online transactions: tips to follow

Every now and then, we keep hearing about a new online security hack being discovered and while the world is moving towards complete digitisation, it is also true that there is a long way ahead of us, when it comes to optimum online security. That said, online transactions is one area where most cyber attacks are focused and while, we as consumers, have made online transactions popular since they make life much easier with several options it offers, it is also true that everything in life comes with a risk and with online transactions, it’s bigger than we think.

The online economy is nothing but billions of dollars being exchanged almost every single day, moreover, online transactions/shopping has resulted in lower prices, unmatched ease of buying as well as incredibly diverse choices for consumers. Being confident due to the millions of transactions taking place, many of us regularly shop and bank online with any second thought. From ordering pizzas to literally buying a house and from transferring money to booking tickets online, these online transactions are the need of the hour which is also looking to practically eliminate the worry of standing in a queue or waiting, to say the least.

However, as unfortunate as it might sound, online fraud and identity theft sort of come complimentary with the popularity and ease of online transactions, thanks to clever cyber thieves as well as sloppy consumers with precarious Internet shopping habits.

When it comes to ‘how to secure your online transactions’, while there is no guarantee that you will always be safe from a cyber threat including viruses, hackers, malware and other scams, it’s more of a habitual change that you need. On that note, here we are listing six tips that you can follow to secure your online transactions.

Tips for secure online transactions

1. Choose your password wisely: While choosing a password, strictly follow the given instructions by banks, mutual funds, etc for choosing the same while making an online transaction (keep it complex and change it regularly). Also using anniversaries or names and a date of birth, of people who are close to you is strictly discouraged since all this could easily be guessed. Moreover, neither share a password with an outsider nor communicate it via social media.

2. Avoid phishing emails: Always Be careful about emails asking about your personal/confidential financial information. The government, SEBI, RBI or even any other regulated entities never ask for password or card numbers.

3. Beware of public Wi-Fi: Never ever resort to making an online transaction from a cyber cafe or through a public Wi-Fi or a shared system. Always prefer your home computer and also install adequate firewalls and anti-virus software. It’s also a good habit to keep your computers/laptops updated with new security patches and operating systems, always.

4. Secure Socket Layer (SSL): Always check for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or https security on the login page of any particular bank’s website. Here, the ‘s’ after the ‘http’ indicates that a particular site is secure. Similarly, look for identity verified-signs as well as SSL security of an online shopping portal in order to protect your debit/credit card number along with your personal information. Also, check for the padlock icon in the browser window.

5. Autocomplete: Always disable Autocomplete/Password storage in your browser since they have a tendency to keep caches of sites you visit, and on prompting, could offer to save passwords for you. However, if you opt for this, you will have to enter all the passwords and URLs every time to come online, but the inconvenience is worth it as your data will be safe in case of a data theft attempt or if your system gets stolen.

6. Web browser privacy mode: This is said to be the best tool in order to keep your online transactions safe, moreover, every new browser comes with this feature. This option sets up a separate browser window that deletes all the data on the moment a particular browser window is closed while clearing caches as well as keeping your private data out of public domain.

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Different modes of Payment

As the commerce and economy expand, volume and variety of transactions expand where there is a need to exchange the money. Using cash for each of these transactions is neither feasible nor practically possible. There are concerns regarding security and transportation of cash in cases where large amounts of money are involved. Banks support ease and velocity in such cases by offering various payment systems as solutions.

What are Payment Systems?

A Payment System is a mechanism that facilitates transfer of value between a payer and a beneficiary by which the payer discharges the payment obligations to the beneficiary. Payment Systems are the medium to transfer funds from one person to another that facilitate businesses and economies. Payment system enables two-way flow of payments in exchange of goods and services in the economy. Payment systems help consumers to transfer funds to each other. Cash is the traditional and most widely used payment instrument that consumers use in their daily lives to purchase goods and services. Banking channels also provide other payment instruments through different platforms and these are also widely used in commerce. Payment systems comprises of instruments through which payments can be made, rules, regulations and procedures that guide these payments, institutions which facilitate payment mechanisms and legal systems etc. that are established to facilitate transfer of funds between different participant institutions. Payment systems are used by individuals, banks, companies, governments, etc. to make payments to one another.

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