BDO pays victims of ATM skimming

MANILA, Philippines — Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. has paid clients reported to have been victimized by skimming.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the listed bank said it is now crediting back lost amounts to accounts affected by incidents of automated teller machine (ATM) skimming.

“For accounts affected recently, we have been crediting back the amounts found to be unauthorized transactions. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and your families, and thank you for your patience,” BDO Unibank said.

“Rest assured that we remain committed to safeguard your account and serve you better,” it said.

BDO president and chief executive officer Nestor Tan, during the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Annual Reception for the Banking Community, confirmed the bank has already paid its clients, but declined to give the specific amount.

Sought for comment, BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said this is a positive development for the victims of the ATM skimming.

“It’s something positive for everybody because they’re restituting,” Fonacier told reporters.

She said this is part of the liability shift framework the BSP has implemented in dealing with fraudulent transactions arising from banks’ shift to the Europay-Mastercard-Visa (EMV) technology.

“The liability will shift to the bank because they did not finish the EMV shift. That’s a way of protecting depositors and also for them to really fast track on replacing the cards,” Fonacier said.

To recall, the country’s largest bank detected fraudulent transactions of ATM cards last June 16, prompting it to deactivate compromised ATMs and affected ATM cards.