Bank auditors have to be more vigilant

MUMBAI: Auditing banks is becoming one of the trickiest and most demanding jobs. Auditors, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advisory to several banks this week, will have to carry out a more intensive examination of large-value accounts, the nature of security provided by borrowers as well as financial statements of borrowers. The regulator believes this will lend greater insight into determination of non-performing assets (NPAs) and other areas of concern like frauds.

The numbers of ATM frauds in public sector banks were, however, more revealing. While State Bank of India, with over 58,000 ATMs across India at the end of March 2019, accounted for over 25% of the over 2 lakh cash dispensers, one in five frauds were reported at its ATMs.

But second placed IDBI Bank, which had 3,700 ATMs according to its website, saw close to 1,800 frauds being reported. So, its share of ATM population was estimated at 1.8% but when it came to reported frauds, it accou ..

RBI has issued detailed norms to improve the infrastructure through introduction of anti-skimming, white-listing solutions and software upgrades apart from asking banks to issue only chip- and PIN-based cards. But banks are seen to be slow in responding to the challenges, including in upgrading the ATM network.