Banks asked to adopt data security standards

SBP deputy chief says no bank can survive without IT infrastructure.

KARACHI:

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has asked banks to adopt minimum security standards to ensure safety, security and maintenance of e-banking transactions.

Banks must design fool-proof data security processes and SBP has issued various guidelines on critical subjects pertaining to operational continuity and data security and safety, said SBP Deputy Governor Yaseen Anwar.

He was speaking at the ‘IT & Banking Conference 2011’, organised by the central bank and the Pakistan Software Export Board on Saturday.

Anwar said the future success of banking industry lies in effective use of information technology and passing on its benefits to customers in terms of cost, speed and convenience. “No bank today can survive without sound information technology infrastructure,” he said.

In recent decades, technological innovation has continued to make inroads into the banking sector which includes phone banking, internet banking, ATMs, point of sale, credit cards and other transactions of different modes.

The central bank’s deputy governor said numerous banking services through the technology platform have not only enhanced business volumes of banks and increased access to unbanked geographical regions they have also brought about operational and cost efficiencies. More recently, he added, information technology has brought another revolutionary change in the form of branchless banking.

He said banks have vast space to work in this area as 85 per cent of the population still remains unbanked.

Anwar observed though banks have come a long way in implementing information technology, they are still quite far from the desired level both in terms of quality and quantity of IT-based solutions for customers.





Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2011.