The new year will be a challenging for banks that have made huge investments in information technology (IT) for improving efficiency and at the same time ensuring security to face the threats posed by fraudsters.
According to a few government bankers, at least Rs 500 crore would be invested for IT security alone. In fact, consultants like Ernst & Young have been appoineted to guide banks. Union Bank of India (UBI) would be spending Rs 247 crore on IT upgrades and security, while Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has earmarked Rs 40 crore for the same before March and another similar amount in the new fiscal.
MD Mallya, chairman and managing director, BoM said, ?E&Y has been appointed consultant to advise on the IT security initiatives.? UBI, which would be spending Rs 247 crore on IT during the current fiscal, announced that it was under the process of installation of lobby banking at select locations.
Competition from private banks and the government policy of financial inclusion for the rural and urban poor have made public sector banks opt for IT in a big way in the recent past but now security has become a prime concern, government bankers echo.
?With the emergence of the internet, the challenges are now tougher because criminals need not live in India to commit any crime against the banks,? said Chia Wing Fei, security response team manager, of F-Secure?s Lab in Kuala Lumpur.
Talking to FE, TK Srivastava, DGM, IT, UBI said: ?Our SMS banking is currently limited to providing information through cell phone, hence no threat of malwares for now.? Still, he said that the bank, like many others, has gone for SSL certificate.
The online banking facility by the BoM would be set by the end of the current fiscal. Mobile and SMS banking and any branch banking are on anvil, said Mallya ?but not before security measures are put in place,? he added.