When Even FD in Bank is not Save . . .

559

Media Statement By Chong Chieng Jen:

DAP Sarawak applauds the Sarawak Police force for the quick respond on the “bank-account-renting” issue.

While the PDRM is taking the matter seriously, the Government and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) should also be pro-active so that the victims of these bank scams and “stealing” via internet banking can be compensated.

The “bank-account-renting” is only a part of the whole bank scam ecology.

Other parts of this bank scam ecology include, personal banking information leakages, e-banking security systems hacked, digital wallet companies’ security system compromised and unclear victim compensation policies. All these can only be dealt with effectively if the Government and BMN put their acts together to formulate a clear policy on such matter.

It is undeniable that both the banks and the depositors are the victims of bank scams. Therefore, the question to ask is who are in a better position to prevent such losses? To me, as the banks have all the financial resources and means to prevent such cases from happening, the banks should shoulder such losses.

DAP Sarawak proposes the following policies to resolve the issue:

  1. There should be more stringent policies for anyone to open a bank account or e-wallet account. All internet banking fraud cases involve a recipient bank account or e-wallet account holder. If the banks or digital wallet companies were more stringent on the opening of accounts, such account holders would be traceable and be held responsible for the crime.
  2. Banks should be held responsible for the losses on such scams. All data leak and system hacked could be prevented with higher and more advanced security programs which will come with a higher cost. If banks were held responsible for the losses of such bank scams, there will be more incentives for banks to invest into more advanced security systems.
  3. No-fault insurance policy be introduced to compensate the victims of such bank scams. The banks must take up such policies to protect their customers. If a bank has many bank scam cases, the insurance premium will be higher as compared to a bank with low bank scam cases. In this way, banks with high bank scam cases will have a higher costs of fund and lower profits. This is also to push the banks to improve on their e-banking systems.

I sympathise with the victims of such bank scams. Many of them have their life-long savings stolen without them knowing what happens.

A Government that does not provide security for the savings of the people in banks is a total failure and I do hope that a new Government elected after the General Elections will see to it that the people’s savings in banks are save.