Bank of Baroda denies linking bank accounts to stray mobile numbers

livemint.com:

₹1.5 million ($18,150) in 2021 as his registered mobile number lapsed and got reassigned to someone else, who exploited the mobile banking access to the hilt. Al Jazeera found tweets from Bank of Baroda customers alleging that money sent to them via their mobile number-linked bank account ended up in someone else’s bank account since their phone number was apparently registered with multiple accounts.

While one wrote he lost ₹25,000 ($302) in this manner, another wrote she has lost ₹2,500 ($30), ₹1,500 ($18) and more over a year. As the Indian government intensely promotes digital banking and pushes for the transition towards a less-cash economy, the scandal casts a shadow on the safety of customers’ money and spotlights the ham-handed way in which banks handle sensitive financial information.

 But this aggressive enrolment goals spurred bad behaviour.  Several Bank of Baroda employees from different branches told Al Jazeera about another workaround they found to boost app registrations: targeting the working-class customers who were still using feature phones and wouldn’t be able to download the bank app. Bank employees took the SIM card of such users and inserted it in the branch’s official tablet or an employee’s smartphone, with their permission, to sign them up.

The officers said they would call such customers to the branch and sign them up individually like this. “At the end of the day, to meet the number [target] and save your bread and butter, you have to do such things." Failing to get the job done in such campaigns puts employees at the risk of disciplinary action and abusive tirades from seniors.