Banks rush to replace debit cards, protect customers on fears of security breach

A slew of banks in India will either replace or ask customer to change the security codes of debit cards on fears of potential breach of customer data.

The move comes a day after the country’s No. 1 lender State Bank of India said that it had blocked over six lakh debit cards.

The worst-hit of the card-issuing banks are State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank, suggest reports.

Yes Bank said in a statement on Thursday it had proactively undertaken a review of its ATMs and found no evidence of any breach.

SBI had on Wednesday said that it had been informed by card network providers about a potential risk to some cards, and was replacing those cards as a precautionary measure.

Other banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There were 697.2 million debit cards in India as of end-July, according to data from the central bank.

Read| SBI blocks 6.25 lakh debit cards after ‘suspicious’ transactions spike