KUCHING: Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) applauds the Sarawak police force for the quick response on the “bank-account-renting” issue.
As such, the Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen called for a comprehensive approach by the government and the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to resolve the matter.
“While the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) are taking the matter seriously, the government and BNM should also be proactive so that the victims of these bank scams and “stealing” via internet banking can be compensated.
“The “bank-account-renting” is only a part of the whole bank scam ecology.
“Other parts of this bank scam ecology include, personal banking information leakages, e-banking security systems hacked, digital wallet companies’ security system compromised and unclear victim compensation policies.
“All these can only be dealt with effectively if the government and BMN put their acts together to formulate a clear policy on such matters,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Chong noted that it was undeniable that both the banks and the depositors were the victims of bank scams.
Therefore, he asserted, the question to ask is who are in a better position to prevent such losses?
He pointed out that the banks should bear these losses because they had all the necessary financial resources and tools to avoid such situations from occurring.
Thus, he said, Sarawak DAP proposed the following policies, among others, to resolve the issue – there should be more stringent policies for anyone to open a bank account or e-wallet account.
“All internet banking fraud cases involve a recipient bank account or e-wallet account holder.
“If the banks or digital wallet companies were more stringent on the opening of accounts, such account holders will be traceable and be held responsible for the crime,” he said.
He further explained on why banks should be held responsible for the losses on such scams.
He said all data leak and system hacked could be prevented with higher and more advanced security programmes which would come with a higher cost.
If banks were held responsible for the losses of such bank scams, he added, there would be more incentives for banks to invest into more advanced security systems.
He also suggested that no-fault insurance policy be introduced to compensate the victims of such bank scams.
“The banks must take up such policies to protect their customers.
“If a bank has many bank scam cases, the insurance premium will be higher as compared to a bank with low bank scam cases.
“In this way, banks with high bank scam cases will have higher costs of fund and lower profits. This is also to push the banks to improve on their e-banking systems,” he said.
He also expressed sympathy for the victims of such bank scams, saying that many of them had their life savings stolen without their knowledge.
“A government that does not provide security for the savings of the people in banks is a total failure, and I do hope that a new government elected after the general election will see to it that the people’s savings in banks are saved,” he added.
