Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Technological solutions and customer awareness are two crucial aspects of combating the rising incidents of financial crimes across the country, said Federal Banking Ombudsman Sirajuddin Aziz when he was addressing .as a chief guest on Saturday at the local hotel of Karachi.
The conference having the topic “Financial Crimes in the Digital Age” is jointly organized by Dellsons Associates and Eastnets.
Speaking at the conference, he said the banks should continue to upgrade their systems towards strengthening the data security of their customers, besides bringing reforms to plug the loopholes in the practices and mechanisms that made the data of customers accessible to white collar criminals.
He mentioned that victims of financial crimes in Pakistan are highly qualified, ironically, as against fraudsters who are less educated but tactical in deceiving the public into getting their credentials to steal money from bank accounts; therefore, the need for awareness among bankers and customers of banks is high and ongoing.
Asian Bank Accounts are frequently reported to be used for fraudulent activities as organized criminals are exploiting this facility for their ease, unfortunately due to the negligence of banks in compliance with KYC of customers, Federal Banking Ombudsman Sirajuddin said.
Nadeem Hussain, Chairman of Pakistan Fintech Network, said the banks should have a prime responsibility to build a culture of awareness on data privacy within the system and then among customers on a priority basis with investment in technology and education.
He pointed out that the personal details of customers, including OTPs, are easily compromised in this digital age being available on the dark web, which could be protected as banks must adopt new software and applications and customers build habits to change their passwords again and again.
Hazem Mulhim, Founder and CEO Eastnets said the fourth industrial revolution is emerging in the world, with Artificial Intelligence is transforming every industry including the financial sector.
The financial institutions need Rs. 400 billion worldwide to revamp its system through the acquisition of cyber security technology and capacity building of the workforce. Organized financial crimes are increasing worldwide constituting 2% of the global GDP.
The banking regulator imposed huge penalties on financial institutions for failure to compliance with regulations to prevent the loss of money at the hands of criminals, but regulatory measures are not enough to stop the menace.
Pakistan is an emerging and important market for the financial sector, which keeps its system updated with advanced technological solutions to maintain its position on the whitelist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Eastnets CEO said.
The conference also hosted various panel discussions on the topic of challenges in digital banking, banking compliance, and anti-money laundering.
The conference is also addressed by Justice Zafar Rajput, Sindh High Court and Lubna Farooq Malik, Director General, Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) at State Bank of Pakistan Who said that SBP is working on Crypto Currencies to regulate them but it’s not an easy task.
The second session comprised on panel discussion participated by Financial institutions representatives .In the end Plaques were distributed among the panelists.