SMS alerts: Banks prefer to charge a flat rate

B L Ramkumar.k:!6 Dec 2013

Instead of linking the charges to the number of transaction alerts received by customers, banks are weighing the possibility of recovering Rs 5-10 a month from those opting to receive the alerts via SMS.

Though the central bank has pointed out that technology is available with banks and service providers for implementing a system for generating SMS alerts and charging customers based on actual usage of the alerts, bankers have a different view.

Tough to implement

According to a senior Central Bank of India official, banks may find it difficult to implement the RBI’s directive on SMS alerts as it involves maintaining records of the alerts sent to each customer, calculating the charges and debiting the accounts.

Further, disputes could arise between customers and banks on the amount debited towards charges for sending alerts for transactions.

Currently, banks, on an average, are charging customers who have opted for the SMS alert service, Rs 15 per quarter.

To avoid the hassle involved in maintaining customer-wise record on the number of SMS alerts sent and the likely disputes relating to the charges levied, banks plan to move the central bank to allow them to charge customers who opt for the service a flat Rs 5-10 a month, said another public sector bank official.

With increased use of credit/debit cards in the country, the RBI, in 2009, had asked banks to start a system of transaction alerts, including via SMS.

The alert system has been put in place to help customers in fraud mitigation.

Will prevent fraud

The RBI is of the view that the system of online alerts for all types of transactions, irrespective of the amount, involving usage of cards at various channels, will help mitigate incidents of frauds and encourage card-based transactions in the country.

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated December 16, 2013)

Now, SMS/e-mail alerts to protect you from identity thefts

BL : Beenya Parmar :Ramkumar:MUMBAI, DEC. 16:2012

Credit information provider Experian’s new initiative

 

Are you worried that a fraudster might fake your identity to wangle a loan/ get a credit card from a bank or get mobile phone SIM card to perpetrate fraud or other offences?

Don’t sweat. Some help may be at hand in the form of an identity theft protection service.

Credit information service provider Experian India plans to bring to its customers the security of a surveillance SMS/ e-mail alert the moment a bank or a telecom company seeks credit information report in their name. “Once you know that somebody is trying to misuse your personal information, you can take remedial steps,” said Vikram Narayan, Managing Director and Country Manager, Experian India.

Damiano Cracolici, Head of Decision Analytics, Experian Services India, said “In the UK and US, most of the applications for credit go to a credit bureau. So if a search is made in your name, you immediately get an SMS about the search….The identity theft protection service is yet to be introduced in India.”

Narayan said Experian has three businesses in India – Credit Information Bureau, which is a joint venture between Experian and seven Indian financial institutions including Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Axis Bank; and wholly-owned subsidiaries for Decision Analytics and Marketing Services.

The identification theft business will see Experian entering the Business-to-Consumer space through a joint venture.

Largely, Experian’s credit bureau business comes from retail and SME segments. In terms of sharing information, a healthy respect for credit bureau has developed and till date no banks have refused to provide data, which is significant development, said the Experian chief.

Observing that application fraud is a growing epidemic, Narayan said, to tackle this problem Experian last year launched a ‘hunter service’ to enable the Indian banking sector to collaborate and share information for early detection of potentially fraudulent applications and helps identify fraud rings.

The hunter prevents the fraud at the point of application and Hunter achieves this without affecting customer service levels and turnaround times.