Banks asked to install additional ATMs security

The Committee on Commerce and Industry chaired by Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas found out that depositors of national banks will receive a text message whenever a withdrawal was made in their account using an ATM card. (pna photo)

ILOILO CITY, Aug 1—  Banks operating in this city are requested to install additional security measures to deter the theft of their depositors funds using automatic teller machines (ATMs).

In a resolution authored by Councilor R Leone Gerochi, he mentioned that the convenience in withdrawing funds from ATMs has also “made it easy for criminals to steal the funds of depositors using special devices.”

“Crimes are almost always discovered at a later date, which makes it hard for the depositor as well as the bank to investigate and identify the culprit,” he said.

Gerochi earlier pushed for the passage of an ordinance relative to the installation of additional features but was downgraded following the result of the committee hearing by the committee on commerce and industry.

The Committee on Commerce and Industry chaired by Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas found out that depositors of national banks will receive a text message whenever a withdrawal was made in their account using an ATM card.

“The Bankers Association of Iloilo Inc. informed that mostly all banking institutions in the city have already implemented the text scheme. That goes true for all national banks but not yet for the local banks,” Tupas said.

Also national banks are dependent on the directive of their main offices based in Manila as far as the matter is concerned, she added.

Nonetheless, Gerochi said that he just wanted to “bring to the attention of banks how they should be updated with their security measure.”

“I just wanted to air out concerns,” he expressed.

“There is a need to pass a resolution to tilt the balance in favor of the public demand to have their money safe and secure and urgently requesting banks to invest in additional measures to safeguard the funds of their smaller depositors,” he added.

The resolution was passed unanimously during Tuesday’s regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. (Perla G. Lena/PNA)