You don’t have much time if you are a State Bank of India (SBI) account holder and use its online banking service. D-Day is November 30, after which you will no longer be able to use SBI’s online banking services. SBI has already said on its website that it will block access for all users who do not link their primary mobile number to their bank accounts. Things don’t end there! SBI also notified that if a user has not linked their mobile number and still uses it for online banking, they will block full access to online banking from December 1. “Please register your mobile phone number before November 30, 2018, failing which, your access to online banking may be disabled / blocked from December 1, 2018,” SBI said on its website.
In the meantime, don’t worry about your bank account, which will remain operational. SBI will only withdraw your Internet banking rights. If you want to recover your Internet banking services, all you have to do is go to your nearest branch and request the association of your mobile phone number with your SBI bank account.
On a related note, SBI has also informed its customers that older magnetic stripe debit cards are easier to clone and could be used for fraudulent transactions. Older magnetic stripe debit cards are not secure and it is not too difficult to browse through personal information and card details. Skimming is the most common way for most digital frauds. While skimming, crooks use a small device to steal credit card information during an otherwise legitimate card transaction.
SBI said it will swap the old cards with the new EMV chips (named after its original developers Europay, MasterCard and Visa) free of charge. SBI had recently announced the exchange offer on its official Twitter account. The bank tweeted: “Take it easy; improve your debit card security by requesting the SBI EMV Chip Debit Card at no charge at your branch or through OnlineSBI.”
The move to the new EMV smart cards is in line with the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Apex bank had asked banks and customers to upgrade their debit cards from magstip to EMV chip debit cards by the end of December 2018.
