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How safe is phone banking, wonder many customers as banks say don’t worry

But voicing their concerns to your favourite No. 1 newspapers, several users said that though the telephone and Internet were a popular mode of banking, they were never sure of its safety. “Basically, these modes of banking never provide a receipt on the spot, therefore, I never have any proof of my transaction until a month later when it shows up in my statement,” said Pradeep Kumaran, a customer who relies totally on phone banking. “But I keep on using them because they save time,” he added.

A spokesperson from Standard Chartered Bank said, “Phone banking is a safe and convenient channel of banking. A thorough identification process eliminates the possibility of divulging any information to a non-account holder. At Standard Chartered Bank, we ensure a stringent identification/verification process is carried out prior to sharing information on an account.”

Giving details of some features of phone banking services, he said that they offered the flexibility of being able to do almost anything over the phone that you can do in a branch — with the exception of depositing or withdrawing money, no waiting in branch queues, banking in your own convenient time, 24 hours a day, seven-days-a-week, secure banking through a telephone banking access number, organise payment of utility bills in advance, or right up to the day due, transfer money between accounts, order statements and cheque books, enquire about your balances, get the latest information on interest rates and much more.

Another customer said that he never cross-checked his monthly statements until there was some great irregularity. “I rely on the bank for these kind of transactions, trusting them completely. But, I still can’t say how safe they are,” said Mohammed Ali, a Pakistani businessman.

According to a spokesperson from Mashreq Bank, “Phone banking is very safe as it has been designed with a two-layer protection, either a confidential Telephone PIN (personal identity number) or a verbal quiz to validate identity are required before the caller can conduct any transactions of access personal information.

“Claims made by banks regarding the safety are doubtful because anyone close to us can know our date of birth, mother’s name and even the P.O. box number that are among the questions asked. Several banks are also asking for a passport number, which is an absurd question. How many people remember their passport numbers? asked Mohammed Ibrahim.

Available statistics (numbers could differ) say that an estimated 20 per cent of bank clients in Dubai use e-banking channels for transacting financial services which is equivalent to some 60,000 unique clients. Security concerns are foremost among the reservations to using full e-banking features on offer.

Security concerns and the lack of strong laws governing e-banking services in the UAE are also major hindrances to the provision of e-banking services by many UAE banks, say researches. Among the banks that did not respond to Khaleej Times queries include Citibank and Habib Bank AG Zurich.

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