Generally thieves withdraw money from ATM using stolen debt or credit cards from other people accounts but in this unusual robbery thieves took off a 500-kg ATM — lock, stock and barrel from Kasarwadi branch of Union Bank of India in Pune around 3 am on Tuesday. The Union Bank of India has faced a loss of nearly Rs 11 lakh plus the cost of the machine.
The robbery attempt was in a much planned manner as hardly any marks can be seen on the floor from where the machine was pulled up, nor did the alarms go off at that time. It is alleged the gang might have come in the dress of ATM maintenance hands and took away the booty in a truck.
The cost of the ATM unit is around Rs 3 lakh and that time there was about Rs 10.8 lakh cash in the machine. Capt Akashdeep Chauhan, manager (security), Union Bank of India said, “The theft could have been done after a lot of study. The ATM has an inbuilt alarm that goes off even if the machine is hit hard, leave alone the effort to break it open. Also, the machine is so heavy that even four-five people cannot easily lift it. I was surprised to see no marks on the floor of the ATM centre from where the machine was dragged out”.
Chauhan added the thieves might have taken the unit on rollers and machines and then loaded in a van or truck. Chauhan said. Police Inspector (Crime) Ravi Chaudhar stated, “It is not humanly possible to physically lift it and lug it on the road”. According to police Inspector (Crime) Ravi Chaudhar, “The branch is on the first floor and opens from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm, while the ATM is on the ground floor. The security guard, Niranjan Adgale, did not turn up for duty on the day. If he were there, he could have prevented the theft or at least provided police with some leads. We enquired with the security company, which provides guards at 36 ATMs in the city, but they have no record of attendance for their staff. Such is their callousness.”
Chaudhar, told the bank manager Chandrashekar Kulkarni in his complaint has stated that some furniture work was being done in the bank on Monday and only the sweepers and carpenters were present when he had left around 7.30 pm. He was informed about the incidence by the bank staff who contacted him on phone on Tuesday morning.
Chaudhary told as the ATM was not fixed to the floor, thus thieves were able to remove it easily. Moreover the CCTV is inbuilt in the machine, so the identity of thieves is not possible. He added, “The service provider who manages ATMs also failed to alert bank officials when connectivity of the ATM centre was lost”.
DCP Mahesh Patil said, “We are inquiring with the security agency as to why the watchman was absent. Our teams are on the trail of the gang”.
Capt Ravi Nair, manager (security) with Bank of Maharashtra said, “There are 700 ATMs in the city. The incident raises questions on our preparedness to prevent such theft. Banks outsource ATM services to third party companies that are supposed to alert the bank and security officials when connectivity of an ATM is lost. But due to power failure and road digging work, these machines get disconnected many times, so such incidents are not taken seriously.”
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Using stolen ATM card man withdraw Rs 1.35 lakh
With the help of closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed at an ATM centre in Thuraipakkam police was able to catch the ATM card thief who withdraw Rs 1.35 lakh from a stolen card.
Shastri Nagar Crime Inspector Mathiarasu told S Geetha, a local resident living on First Main Road filed a complaint about her stolen credit card. Her husband, Shankar, is an engineer and worked in a Gangotri Thermal Plant in Jharkhand. Geetha owned a Bank of Baroda ATM card, which she lost on September 30 while returning from T Nagar to Adyar. More than 10 days had passed that she realized that she had lost her card. As on Sunday bank is closed, next day when she went to the bank, she found that Rs 1.35 lakh had been withdrawn from her account. She filed a complaint of lost credit card at the Shastri Nagar police station.
A special police team headed by Mathiarasu investigating the case found that the withdrawals have been done at ATM centers of several banks in Thuraipakkam area. The team on scrutinizing the CCTV tapes obtained from ATM centers found that at one ATM center, the thief first used his own card to withdraw Rs 300 cash before using the stolen one.
The police traced his address and picked up the suspect from Kelambakkam. During the interrogation police came to know about his details that his name was Tirupathi, aged 29, son of Krishnamurthy of Jolarpet and was working at construction site in Adyar. Police arrested him and remanded to judicial custody.
Shastri Nagar Crime Inspector Mathiarasu told S Geetha, a local resident living on First Main Road filed a complaint about her stolen credit card. Her husband, Shankar, is an engineer and worked in a Gangotri Thermal Plant in Jharkhand. Geetha owned a Bank of Baroda ATM card, which she lost on September 30 while returning from T Nagar to Adyar. More than 10 days had passed that she realized that she had lost her card. As on Sunday bank is closed, next day when she went to the bank, she found that Rs 1.35 lakh had been withdrawn from her account. She filed a complaint of lost credit card at the Shastri Nagar police station.
A special police team headed by Mathiarasu investigating the case found that the withdrawals have been done at ATM centers of several banks in Thuraipakkam area. The team on scrutinizing the CCTV tapes obtained from ATM centers found that at one ATM center, the thief first used his own card to withdraw Rs 300 cash before using the stolen one.
The police traced his address and picked up the suspect from Kelambakkam. During the interrogation police came to know about his details that his name was Tirupathi, aged 29, son of Krishnamurthy of Jolarpet and was working at construction site in Adyar. Police arrested him and remanded to judicial custody.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Credit card companies focus on fee-based cards to earn profit
Over the past few months the banks have stopped offering free credit card. Due to economic downturn banks have decided to go slow on free cards and they are mainly focusing on fee-based cards.
Earlier credit card companies to hold large portion of market shares disbursed maximum number of cards. At that time companies did not pay much attention to the repayment ability of the customer therefore the number of defaulters increased. But now the companies are looking for higher spending on the credit cards and the repayment ability of the customer, which add up to the market growth.
As banks have got cautious of payment defaults it is the right decision to focus on fee-based cards as people are likely to spend more of what they have paid for.
According to the Reserve Bank of India report the issuing of cards decline by 17.2 per cent in July from a year ago whereas there has been drop of 11 per cent in the billed business over the same period.
Rajesh Saxena, CEO, American Express Banking Corp. India, which offers only fee-based cards pointed out, “The industry is more focused on fee-based cards as the customers spend more on them. In India, the average spending of our premium card members’ is tens of times the industry average”.
Under fee-based card series few banks have launched several premium segment cards this year. In February Citibank launched its Platinum Select card with an annual fee of Rs 4,000, while in May ICICI Bank launched ICICI Bank Singapore Airlines Visa Platinum card for which it is charging an annual fee of Rs 6,000.
Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager, Cards, Citi India said, “As customers become more discerning in their choices, products that will carry a fee may well become an increasingly important feature of credit cards market”.
According to industry executives people who take premium cards use them all the time. On the other hand due to inactive and free cards the card industry in India has been badly affected, whereas the premium card segment is equivalent to the global standards.
“Card usage patterns of premium customers in India are very comparable to markets like Hong Kong, Singapore & US,” said Saxena.
Earlier credit card companies to hold large portion of market shares disbursed maximum number of cards. At that time companies did not pay much attention to the repayment ability of the customer therefore the number of defaulters increased. But now the companies are looking for higher spending on the credit cards and the repayment ability of the customer, which add up to the market growth.
As banks have got cautious of payment defaults it is the right decision to focus on fee-based cards as people are likely to spend more of what they have paid for.
According to the Reserve Bank of India report the issuing of cards decline by 17.2 per cent in July from a year ago whereas there has been drop of 11 per cent in the billed business over the same period.
Rajesh Saxena, CEO, American Express Banking Corp. India, which offers only fee-based cards pointed out, “The industry is more focused on fee-based cards as the customers spend more on them. In India, the average spending of our premium card members’ is tens of times the industry average”.
Under fee-based card series few banks have launched several premium segment cards this year. In February Citibank launched its Platinum Select card with an annual fee of Rs 4,000, while in May ICICI Bank launched ICICI Bank Singapore Airlines Visa Platinum card for which it is charging an annual fee of Rs 6,000.
Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager, Cards, Citi India said, “As customers become more discerning in their choices, products that will carry a fee may well become an increasingly important feature of credit cards market”.
According to industry executives people who take premium cards use them all the time. On the other hand due to inactive and free cards the card industry in India has been badly affected, whereas the premium card segment is equivalent to the global standards.
“Card usage patterns of premium customers in India are very comparable to markets like Hong Kong, Singapore & US,” said Saxena.
Citibank launched new rewards platform for Citi-branded credit cared holders
Citibank India has launched a new rewards platform – CitiRewards, for its customers who own Citi-branded credit cards to provide them new experience.
In a statement released by the bank Citi India Business Manager (Cards), Sandeep Bhalla, said, "This new platform transforms rewards from being an add-on product of card ownership to the center of customer experience".
Through this platform the customers will get to redeem their reward points from over four-million products –from travel to electronic goods, Shoppers Stop gift vouchers and home-delivered flowers to fitness clothing and shoes.
Also the Citibank Platinum Select and Citibank Titanium Cash Rewards credit cards through Citi Rewards can also redeem their points to clear their card outstanding dues or for air miles across multiple airlines in the country.
In a statement released by the bank Citi India Business Manager (Cards), Sandeep Bhalla, said, "This new platform transforms rewards from being an add-on product of card ownership to the center of customer experience".
Through this platform the customers will get to redeem their reward points from over four-million products –from travel to electronic goods, Shoppers Stop gift vouchers and home-delivered flowers to fitness clothing and shoes.
Also the Citibank Platinum Select and Citibank Titanium Cash Rewards credit cards through Citi Rewards can also redeem their points to clear their card outstanding dues or for air miles across multiple airlines in the country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)