SBI halves daily ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 20,000 to curb frauds
The lower limit will be effective from October 31 and will impact many SBI customers since these cards constitute a sizeable chunk of the bank's card portfolio.
By BusinessToday.In
Monday, October 1, 2018
ATM skimming is back in the news with the police yesterday arresting two more Romanian nationals involved in this racket. In fact, industry insiders peg the loss from skimming - where devices are planted in ATMs to surreptitiously read card data, which is then cloned to swindle money - at over $2 billion a year. In an attempt to protect customers from such fraud, the State Bank of India is reportedly going to halve its daily ATM cash withdrawal limit.
According to The Economic Times, the country's largest lender has lowered the limit on its Classic Debit Card to Rs 20,000 a day, from Rs 40,000 previously. The lower limit will be effective from October 31 and will impact many SBI customers since these cards constitute a sizeable chunk of the bank's card portfolio.
"In view of the increase in the number of complaints received by banks around fraudulent transactions at ATMs and to encourage digital and cashless transactions, it has been decided to decrease the cash withdrawal limits of debit cards issued or being issued on 'Classic' and 'Maestro' platforms," said a bank communique sent out to its offices. SBI has also directed all its branches to display the message on notice boards.
The latest RBI annual report reveals that the currency in circulation (CiC) stood at Rs 19.38 lakh crore as of August 17, 2018, which is higher than the pre-demonetisation levels. Consequently, India's currency to GDP ratio is once again among the highest in the world, compared to peer emerging market economies as well as advanced economies. Moreover, household savings held in the form of currency are at the highest level since 2011.
