YEREVAN, May 15. /ARКА/. Three Armenian banks – IDBank, Inecobank and Ardshinbank – have decided to postpone repayment of clients’ liabilities for a period of 3 to 5 years as part of the search for interim solutions for clients affected by possible fraud, the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia reported.
Thus, ID Bank will postpone repayment of liabilities for 5 years, Inecobank – for 3 years, and Ardshinbank – for 3 years.
“During this period, borrowers will not be required to repay the loan, interest on the loan will not be accrued, taking into account the fact that during this period final legal assessments will be received based on the results of the relevant criminal proceedings,” the regulator said in a statement.
The regulator added that it had received complaints from about 50 individuals about ID Bank, Inecobank and Ardshinbank, noting that each case would be considered by its employees on an individual basis, and if violations of the law by the banks are detected, the Central Bank will initiate appropriate supervisory measures, including orders to eliminate the violations.
If no violations of the law are detected, but it is established that possible fraud is the result of clients transferring their personal data and corresponding passwords provided by the banks to other persons (by abusing the trust of clients or in some other way), the possibility of applying certain solutions will be considered with the relevant banks.
In this regard, the Central Bank initiated an inspection of the services remotely provided to clients by the three specified banks, during which all circumstances that may be associated with possible fraud were carefully studied and investigated.
“As a result of reviewing the majority of complaints received, it was established that fraud is a consequence of clients transferring their personal data and corresponding passwords provided by banks to other persons. However, in order to reduce the risks associated with currently widespread fraudulent schemes, the Central Bank recommended that banks apply more stringent solutions in the processes of remote identification of clients, a significant part of which has already been implemented,” the statement says.
The Central Bank also held a number of meetings and discussions with representatives of law enforcement agencies (the prosecutor’s office, the Investigative Committee), during which possible short-term and long-term solutions to reduce fraud were discussed.
The Central Bank regularly holds explanatory events on this topic, urging citizens not to provide their personal and bank data to other persons, and in case of suspicion, to establish additional contact with the relevant financial institution. Financial institutions, in turn, regularly inform their clients about possible fraudulent schemes and the prevention of providing data to other persons.
“As a long-term solution, the Central Bank is currently also considering the possibility of making certain changes to the relevant regulations,” the regulator said.
The Central Bank called on citizens who have suffered from possible fraud to contact their servicing banks to consider possible solutions, and to contact the Central Bank for any problems that arise (tel.: 010 592 592, e-mail: [email protected]). -0-
