REPUBLIC Bank Limited (RBL) has begun refunding several customers affected by a recent Visa Debit card fraud that hit the institution, and has already paid out over $5 million in refunds, according to a Bank of Guyana (BoG) report.
Even as the bank continues to recover from the scam, on Thursday customers experienced issues with its system that saw ATMs and other services going down. By mid-day services were said to have been restored.

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, last Tuesday noted that he had contacted the Central Bank asking for the issue to be investigated. He stressed that once the bank is at fault, customers were expected to be reimbursed.

“All customers are protected under the banking laws,” Jordan established.
“The question is they [RBL] have to do an investigation and it has to be proven that [customers] monies have been taken out of their account by [persons] other than them and the bank will have to make the necessary adjustments to the accounts. This matter has come to our attention and we’re waiting on a report.”

The requested report has been submitted. BoG Governor, Dr. Gobin Ganga, confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that RBL has already begun refunding customers, even as the investigation continues as more customers come into the bank to report issues with their accounts.

“Republic has submitted a report. They [Republic Bank] would’ve refunded about 75 customers so far amounting to over $5 million and it’s an ongoing process. As the customers come in with an issue they [RBL] will look at it and will do the necessary to refund them,” Dr. Ganga said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Following a public outcry and complaints from its customers, RBL two weeks ago confirmed that some customers had been impacted by fraudulent activity on their international Visa Debit cards and the company implemented additional security measures to mitigate the effect to other customers.

UNAUTHORISED DEDUCTIONS
Customers reported unauthorised deductions being made from their bank accounts, noting that when they informed the bank of the issue they were told that the money was deducted for online shopping at various sites, including Netflix.
The question of how many customers were affected, or exactly how much money may have been taken from customers remains unknown as the bank depends on customers’ report to determine what would have been legitimate transactions and what would have been fraudulent.

“They wouldn’t know until they receive from the customer the necessary information. Initially when the customer started to go to them, then they started to realise. It’s an ongoing process and they will be reporting as more customers come forward, it’s an ongoing process also with respect to refunding,” Dr. Ganga said.
Most of the customers, who reported being affected, say they lost amounts less than $100,000. The bank noted that measures were put in place to fast-track claims by customers

COUNTERMEASURES
“We have put special measures in place to expedite the process and this is progressing,” the bank said in a subsequent statement.

“Republic Bank follows existing standard global practices for disputed international Debit Card transactions. The completion of this process is contingent upon the customers’ completion of relevant forms to initiate the claim.”

The international Visa Debit Card is issued by Republic Bank but is owned by Visa Inc., a US company. In 2009, Republic Bank became the first bank in Guyana to offer the international Visa Debit Card service. The service opened the door for customers to access their account and use their card anywhere in the world where Visa Cards are accepted, including online.

To boost trust in their service, Visa Inc. promotes it’s “Zero Liability Policy” listed on its website. The policy promises that customers “won’t be held responsible for unauthorised charges made with [their] account or account information”. The company noted that customers are protected if their Visa credit or debit card is “lost, stolen or fraudulently used, online or offline”.

Several banks have since started offering the service. However, while the service has to be requested at some banks, at Republic Bank, the service is automatically offered on customers’ Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

Dr. Ganga said that while other banks have experienced occasional issues, thus far, Republic Bank remains the only institution to have reported such a widespread case.
“From time to time they may have one or two but we haven’t seen it as widespread as Republic Bank; no other [bank] have reported it so far,” he noted.

Most of the banks warn customers about the possibility of fraudulent activity on their card and speaks to preventative steps that can be taken to avoid being a victim of fraud.
“Cyber risk is one of the major issues when one is using electronic payment and this is one of the issues that we all have to be very aware of and be careful with,” Dr. Ganga said.