A day, after the Reserve Bank Of India directed Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited “to cease and desist, with immediate effect, onboarding of new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards, the MD & CEO of the bank Ashok Vaswani, issued a statement on Social Media platform ‘X’, formerly Twitter, saying that the services to its customers will “continue uninterrupted”. “Amid recent updates regarding the RBI's directive to the Bank, I want to reassure you of our services and address any concerns that may have arisen. I wish to emphasize that our operations continue uninterrupted for all existing customers across all our channels. You continue to have access to all your existing banking services including branches, bank accounts, Credit/Debit Cards, ATMs, Mobile and Net Banking facilities. However, we have temporarily paused the issuance of new Credit Cards.”
“Rest assured, we are actively working to address the concerns raised and are in constant communication with the regulator to resolve any issues promptly,” the statement further said.
The RBI, on April 24th, barred the bank from undertaking the aforementioned services stating that its actions are based on "significant concerns arising out of Reserve Bank's IT Examination of the bank for the years 2022 and 2023 and the continued failure on the part of the bank to address these concerns in a comprehensive and timely manner". The Central Bank added that there were “serious deficiencies” in the way Kotak Mahindra Bank manages its IT inventory and secures its data.
Yesterday as well, Kotak Mahindra Bank sent a response and stated, “We have received an order from the RBI which directs us to temporarily pause onboarding of new customers through our online and mobile banking channels and issuance of fresh credit cards. The Bank has taken measures for the adoption of new technologies to strengthen its IT systems and will continue to work with RBI to swiftly resolve balance issues at the earliest. We want to reassure our existing customers of uninterrupted services, including credit card, mobile and net banking. Our branches continue to welcome and onboard new customers, providing them with all the Bank’s services, apart from issuance of new credit cards.”
Talking to Outlook Money, experts said that “image” will be the biggest issue the bank will now face. While existing customers will continue to be there, the new customers will be cautious, and might not take credit cards or open new accounts1,645.00 falling Rs. 197.80
