NEWS: Bank Fined R1 Million for Failing to Protect Customer Information
Banking News
The Information Regulator has fined FNB R1 million for failing to properly protect customers’ personal information.
An unfortunate system error in the bank’s app allowed 696 unauthorised people to access sensitive information belonging to 88 home loan applicants. This included names, ID numbers, addresses, salaries and bank account details. The problem occurred because some ordinary customers were incorrectly classified as bank employees.
Despite receiving complaints about the problem, the Information Regulator decided that FNB failed to sort out the security risk quickly enough, potentially exposing customers to identity theft and fraud.
The Information Regulator also found that FNB had broken other rules under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). These included collecting personal information from newspapers without proper legal grounds and keeping certain customer records indefinitely without a valid reason.
FNB has been given 30 days to pay the R1 million fine.
