RBI bans BOB to onboard new customers on its mobile application

11 Oct 2023 , 10:09 AM

With immediate effect, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred the public sector Bank of Baroda (BoB) from adding new clients to its ‘Bob World’ mobile application.

The action is based on several material supervisory concerns noticed in the bank’s approach to customer acquisition thus far, according to the RBI.

The central bank’s decision came nearly three months after a news network revealed how the bank linked bank accounts to unregistered cellphone numbers and signed these numbers up for the app. Even if users were deregistered after signing up, the number of downloads and sign-ups increased artificially. However, the allegations have been dismissed by the bank.

The RBI stated in a press release that any further onboarding of customers on the ‘Bob World’ application will be subject to the rectification of deficiencies and improvement of the related processes to the satisfaction of the regulator.

In a stock market announcement, the bank stated that it would work closely with the RBI to address their concerns as soon as possible.

Existing Bob World app clients will continue to get uninterrupted service, and the app is entirely secure with robust security controls and features, according to the bank.

 

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