Banco de Oro compliant with BSP rules; no sanction over ATM ‘skimming’ case

Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) has escaped supervisory action from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas even as its automated teller machines were compromised in June.

Highly placed sources told reporters that during a recent Monetary Board meeting, the BSP’s highest policymaking body deemed that the bank had been compliant with the BSP’s requirements.

“They’re able to address [the issue] at that time,” a source said.

Also, BDO followed the BSP’s regulation wherein affected customers had to be reimbursed, as mandated under the liability shift framework, the source said.

As such, BDO will not be slapped any sanction, according to sources.

In June, BDO reported that some incidents of “skimming” that affected several BDO ATMs.

In skimming, culprits steal card credentials — usually using devices attached to ATM machines — and use them for unauthorized withdrawals.

The BDO officials had ruled out hacking as the cause of the unauthorized ATM withdrawals that were reported by some cardholders.

This week, BDO reiterated its call to clients to immediately obtain their debit card with embedded EMV chip from their branch of account.

BDO said the shift to EMV-chip cards would help ensure wider protection for clients against fraudulent activities usually carried out in electronic banking channels.
The BSP had ordered banks to issue all customers with EMV chip-enabled cards until June 30 next year, or else be slapped with a fine.

The regulator earlier set the deadline to EMV migration on Jan. 1, 2017, but noted that some banks have yet to fully comply.