If you have a Debit card and if you are in India, it is very likely that you have received a message from your Bank telling you to change the PIN of your ATM card. While sending this message is a standard practice that all banks do from time to time, however, this time it is something more serious than just a word of caution. Reports say that around 3.2 million (32 lakhs) debit cards belonging to major banks have been compromised in India.
Initial reports suggest that this could be the biggest financial breach ever reported in India with State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC, Yes Bank, and ICICI as the worst hit banks. It sure is worrisome considering almost everyone has a debit card these days and 32 lakh is a big number. So is your card also affected by the breach? If yes, what should be your next step, we explain everything.
How serious is this
According to the report, around 26 lakh of these cards are on Visa and Mastercard platform, while over 6 lakh are on the Rupay platform.
SBI has confirmed that it has blocked over 6 lakh debit cards in India after card network companies like NCPI, MasterCard and Visa informed the affected banks about a possible data breach. SBI also commented that the breach did not involve its own ATM machines and networks.
"We'd like to emphasise that SBI's systems have absolutely not been compromised and existing card holders are not at any risk and can continue to use their cards. SBI is in the process of issuing new cards at no cost to those card holders whose cards have been blocked. This is a cards industry incident (not only SBI)," a SBI spokesperson said.The Reserve Bank of India has also received complaints from the affected banks. According to The Hindu, the RBI has asked the banks to replace 17.5 lakh debit cards.
Customers have been receiving cautionary messages from their respective banks asking them to change the ATM PIN. Axis Banks resorted to blocking the ATMs till the PIN was changed from the bank's ATM. Yes Bank also limited the cash withdrawal to maximum Rs 5,000 per day till the PIN was changed.
