Tanzanian banks have stepped up security measures for their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in an attempt to protect customers from ATM theft
According to survey conducted by Sunday News, several banks in Dar es Salaam have established ATM security measures. It revealed that the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) had installed a shield that secures the keypad on the ATM. The ATM keypad shields were designed to conceal the user’s hand from the angle of the camera positioned in ATM cubicles and from other customers. Stanbic Bank has also installed several similar security measures.
An NBC branch security guard in Dar es Salaam said the new device has slowed down the pace at which ATM cards entered and exited the device.
“The card will enter and exit a bit slower than usual and all clients are requested not to remove the card from the ATM before it has fully ejected from the card reader,” he added. The banks have also issued similar instructions to clients asking them not to pull the card out of the ATM before it came out.
During the survey it was noticed that several banks were also in the process of changing and upgrading the security features of their ATMs.
The Sunday News survey also pointed out that such security measures had become necessary due to growing ATM thefts in the country. Several banks have had to pay huge amounts of money as compensation to clients for ATM frauds in recent times.
NBC head of marketing, communications and corporate affairs, Mwinda Kiula-Mfugale, said, “ATM theft is affecting the banking industry. The matter is yet to be taken up by the Tanzania Bankers’ Association. It is time that more security measures are implemented to stop the menace.”
