Bank of Baroda, one of India’s prominent state-owned banks, has denied allegations of fraudulent activities involving the misuse of customers’ mobile numbers to inflate app downloads for its mobile banking app, BoB World.
The denial comes in response to a report by Al Jazeera, which claimed that bank officials engaged in fraudulent practices by linking unrelated bank accounts to random mobile numbers to meet stringent onboarding targets.
According to the report, Bank of Baroda employees from various regions allegedly adopted this practice, including gathering a list of bank accounts not linked to mobile numbers and associating them with available mobile numbers, including those of bank staff, sanitation and security workers, and their relatives. This enabled them to generate the necessary one-time passwords (OTPs) for app registration. The accounts would then be signed up from the backend and subsequently deregistered, allowing the reuse of the same mobile numbers for other bank accounts.
The report also highlighted internal emails within Bank of Baroda that acknowledged the associated risks of linking bank accounts to unfamiliar mobile numbers, posing potential dangers of fraud to customers as individuals with access to the registered mobile numbers could manipulate bank accounts and alter online banking passwords or gain control over new ATM cards.
In response to these allegations, Bank of Baroda firmly denies the claims. The bank emphasizes that it maintains a robust system with stringent controls in place. It states that the BoB World mobile banking app cannot be linked to the same mobile number multiple times. Customers are required to visit a bank branch in person and undergo a two-factor authentication process to register or update a mobile number. The activation of the mobile number occurs after a 24-hour period.
Furthermore, Bank of Baroda clarifies that the linking of bank accounts to a single mobile number is restricted to a maximum of eight customer IDs, provided that the registered postal address is the same. This provision aims to offer convenience to customers belonging to the same family.
As the situation unfolds, concerns about the security of customers’ money arise, shedding light on the challenges banks face in handling sensitive financial information. This is particularly relevant as the Indian government promotes digital banking and encourages the transition to a cashless economy. Bank of Baroda reassures its commitment to maintaining robust systems and controls to protect customer interests and ensure the integrity of its operations.
