The Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Citing ‘material supervisory concerns’ the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday ordered public sector lender Bank of Baroda to suspend any further onboarding of customers onto its mobile application ‘bob World’ with immediate effect.
“This action is based on certain material supervisory concerns observed in the manner of onboarding of their customers onto this mobile application,” RBI said in a statement.
RBI’s action comes nearly three months after reports emerged in a section of media that the government-run lender has tampered with its customer accounts to boost registrations onto its mobile application bob World.
The central bank noted that “any further onboarding of customers of the bank on the ‘bob World’ application will be subject to rectification of the deficiencies observed and strengthening of the related processes by the bank to the satisfaction of RBI.”
The bank has been further directed to ensure that already onboarded ‘bob World’ customers do not face any disruption on account of this suspension, the RBI added.
Quoting whistleblowers, it was reported in July that Bank of Baroda’s employees used the mobile number of fellow employees and strangers to register with bank accounts to portray an increased adoption of their mobile application.
However, Bank of Baroda has denied the report saying it has been following “system-authenticated and customer consent-based” processes.
State-run Bank of Baroda launched bob World application in 2021 with an objective of providing all banking services under one roof. The bank claims to offer 220 services through the app, including an option to open a digital account in 10 minutes with instant virtual debit card issuance. The lender has also integrated its app with e-commerce.