BSP now assessing if BDO is liable in compromised ATMs incident

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is assessing if BDO Unibank Inc. should be held liable regarding the automated teller machine (ATM) accounts that supposedly fell prey to a skimming hack.

At the same time, the central bank said it will also launch its own investigation into the matter, Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told GMA News Online on Tuesday.

"We'll investigate as soon as the dust settles ..." and customers' accounts are restored, Espenilla, who is in-charge of bank supervision and examination, added.

Asked if the bank will face regulatory sanctions Espenilla said: "That's a possibility. We are evaluating the full situation."

In a separate statement, BDO said it is still investigating reports of supposedly unauthorized transactions which hit the ATM accounts of several clients.

"As per investigation, only a handful of our ATMs were impacted due to skimming. We are still in the process of evaluating the complaints of unauthorized transactions and as soon as verified, we shall proceed with the reimbursements," it said in a statement to GMA News Online.

The central bank noted that according to the bank's initial investigation, the compromised accounts were hit by a localized card skimming hack.

On Friday, several BDO account holders claimed there were unauthorized withdrawals from their ATM accounts.

"There were also a number of incidents wherein our cardholders were impacted by non-BDO facilities that included not only ATMs but also Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals," the bank noted.

"Fraud happens in various forms and skimming is just one of many ways. It is not isolated to BDO alone, and could impact ATMs of other banks as well," it added.

The BSP said it will also look into the glitch that hit the Bank of the Philippine Islands two weeks ago.

Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero, who chairs the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, has scheduled on Wednesday, June 21, a legislative probe into the issues that hounded both banks. — VDS, GMA News