SBI extends 24×7 OTP-based ATM withdrawal facility in India

By Edil Corneille

State Bank of India (SBI) is extending its OTP-based cash withdrawal facility for INR 10,000 and above throughout the day across all SBI ATMs in India starting September 18, 2020. In alignment with its aim to reinforce its ATM security system and safeguard customers, the bank had introduced OTP based cash withdrawals of above INR 10,000 between 8 PM – 8 AM through SBI ATMs since January 1, 2020.

The OTP is a system-generated numeric string of characters that authenticates the user for a single transaction. Once customers enter the amount they wish to withdraw, the ATM screen will ask for the OTP to be entered which the customer will have received on the registered mobile number. The bank has mentioned that the OTP-based cash withdrawal facility is available only at SBI ATMs as this functionality at non-SBI ATMs has not been developed in National Financial Switch (NFS).

For withdrawals of INR 10,000 and above, SBI debit card holders have to now enter the OTP sent on their registered mobile numbers along with their debit card PINs each time.

C S Setty, MD (Retail & Digital Banking), SBI stated, “SBI has always been at the forefront in ensuring convenience and safety to its customers through technological improvisation and augmentation of security level. With the enablement of 24×7 OTP authenticated ATM withdrawals we believe SBI customers will have a secured and risk-free cash withdrawal experience.”

With the introduction of 24×7 OTP-based cash withdrawal facility, the bank has further strengthened the security level in ATM cash withdrawals. Implementing this facility throughout the day would prevent debit cardholders of the bank from the risk of falling prey to fraudsters, unauthorised withdrawals, card skimming, card cloning and the likes.