Seychelles Bankers Association warning: be more careful with online shopping

MCB Seychelles has put in place several security measures to keep its clients safe. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Bankers Association is advising people to be more careful about who they share their bank details with after a number of clients fell victim to fraudulent transactions.

The chairman of the Association, Phillip Moustache, told SNA that "one of the main issues we have seen is with regards to unsecured online shopping sites."

A number of customers of the Absa Seychelles Bank were victims of a series of fraudulent and unauthorised transactions by online merchants recently, through which money was debited from their accounts without their permission.

The bank took steps to ensure all such transactions were declined and in some instances blocked selected individual cards and notified all affected customers.

"We have a lot of people who enjoy online shopping and unfortunately, sometimes they end up on sites that are not secured and therefore their debit card details can easily be stolen by scammers," said Moustache.

He added that more vigilance with banking transactions is needed.

Moustache said that more education is needed to ensure that people know what type of websites they can access and that people must be more cautious when asked to give personal information.

SNA spoke to the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) Seychelles to learn more about the security measures it has implemented to keep its clients safe.

MCB Seychelles said that security measures include the contactless feature for new debit cards, which enables the customer to conduct two transactions below SCR 500 ($37) on MCB point of sale (POS) terminals by simply tapping the card on the POS instead of inserting a PIN to confirm payment.

"This creates safety by allowing customers to avoid constantly inserting their PIN for small transactions. It also prevents the need for the card to exchange hands, which allows for hygienic payments," said MCB Seychelles.

The Bank has also increased security for online transactions, such as email notifications whenever a transaction has been done, which is something most banks in the country are also implementing.

Visa Secure is another measure MCB have implemented to avoid people making payments to unsecured websites, which are prone to scamming activities.

"Whilst paying on websites secured by VISA, customers are diverted to a screen to insert their User ID and a 6-digit One Time Password to confirm payments when using their card to pay directly on the site," said MCB Seychelles.

The Bank has also stated that they are working hard at educational materials for their clients to ensure a better understanding of the various payment platforms and how to avoid suspicious activities.

"At present, MCB Seychelles has launched a campaign to further educate customers on the bank's policy and process regarding card transaction disputes across a variety of communication channels."