Central bank urges ATM withdrawal limits at night

In a written request to local credit organizations and branches of foreign banks on Tuesday, the SBV asked credit institutions to take preventive measures in card payment activities.

The SBV told the agencies to strictly comply with the laws and regulations of the central bank, as well as strengthen the internal inspections and audits of card payment activities, both in number and quality.

Such agencies should review their entire procedures of card payment activities, and fully carry out risk prevention measures in each stage, in a bid to prevent crime. They also should make their clients more aware of information security issues.

Also, the agencies should closely team with competent organizations to promptly handle and remedy risks in card payment activities. This move is meant to avoid the situation in which banking customers complain about lost money for long periods of time, possibly affecting the prestige of the national banking system.

They should also adopt monitoring measures to warn their cardholders about potential risks, based on the analysis of behaviors and habits, and geographic locations among their clients.

Notably, agencies should flexibly cap the amount of cash money withdrawals at ATMs from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. in order to minimize risks for themselves and their clients.

In recent times, credit card skimming has frequently occurred. It is a type of credit card theft in which crooks use a small device to steal credit card information, then sell or use this card information to make fraudulent purchases.

Credit card skimmers are often placed over the card swipe mechanism on ATMs, though skimmers can be placed over almost any type of credit card reader. With ATMs, the crooks may also place a small, undetectable camera nearby to record clients entering their PIN numbers. This provides thieves with all the information needed to manufacture fake cards and withdraw cash from the cardholder’s account.

Victims of credit card skimming are often unaware of the theft until they notice unauthorized charges on their account, or have their card unexpectedly declined.