RBI ban on Bank of Baroda World app: Finance ministry’s likely plan on frauds

Union finance ministry may propose stricter measures to protect citizens from cyber fraud, it was reported.

This comes after an increase in incidents of frauds, including the Bank of Baroda World app scam, the Times of India reported citing sources who “mentioned a recent inter-ministerial meeting focused on bolstering cybersecurity and tackling financial fraud”, it noted.

In October 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stopped Bank of Baroda from onboarding new customers on its mobile app ‘BoB World’ citing material supervisory concerns. The bank said in response that it had already carried out corrective measures to address the concerns.

“The Reserve Bank of India has, in exercise of its power, under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, directed Bank of Baroda to suspend, with immediate effect, any further onboarding of their customers onto the ‘bob World’ mobile application,” RBI said in a statement.

“Any further onboarding of customers of the bank on the ‘bob World’ application will be subject to rectification of the deficiencies observed and strengthening of the related processes by the bank to the satisfaction of RBI,” it added.

What report said on steps Finance Ministry could take?
The report claimed that Finance ministry could be in support of stricter Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and due diligence by banks and financial institutions while onboarding new merchants. This applies to Business Correspondents (BCs) as they may be more vulnerable to security breaches, as per the report.

Additionally, the ministry’s proposal also stresses on the need for improved data security and data protection practices at the merchant and Business Correspondents level. The report claimed that the RBI may ask banks to review concentration of Business Correspondents in areas with a high incidence of cyber fraud.