Guards no sure-fire solution, say busy bank officials

Tuesday’s gruesome attack on a woman in a Corporation Bank ATM centre near Town Hall has prompted the State government to enforce strict security measures, but what about banks themselves?

When Deccan Herald contacted authorities of some leading banks, they said they were “too busy” to comment on the issue. While the Home Minister, K J George, has said that 680 of the 2,580 ATM centres in the City are unguarded, bank officials say the “effectiveness” of security guards is “questionable”. Bank authorities insisted that security guards armed with lathis provide “only a psychological sense of security to customers, nothing more”.

H M Malli, a Vijaya Bank official, said, “Guards need not retaliate in case of trouble. It is only to make customers feel secure that we deploy men standing guard at the ATM centres.” At present, only guards at on-site ATM kiosks are armed, usually with a single barrel gun. More so, they are deployed for securing the bank, not the ATMs.

An official with Corporation Bank, whose only 12 out of 100 ATMs in the City are guarded, said security guards were “no better” as they could also be attacked.

“Even if there is an eventuality, armed guards will not be in a position to open fire as it might harm anyone. The weapon provided to them cannot target one person in particular,” he added. Only increased police patrolling could provide a solution, he maintained. S M Swathi, Executive Manager of the bank’s Bangalore circle, said security measures would be provided at all kiosks across the City shortly.

Security unviabile

Bank officials also mention the viability of deploying security guards round-the-clock. Many kiosks do not have much business and deploying armed guards would mean paying for three people, in eight-hour shifts each, an official pointed out. Further, the cost of firearms, their licence fee, training, etc all put together would make most ATM centres “economically unviable”, he added.

What’s more, another official said, security agencies often “fleece” bank for three shifts but deploy only two men on the job the whole day. The credibility of security guards and private security agencies is another issue. In many instances, guards themselves have gone rogue and robbed the ATM kiosks.

Nevertheless, banks are also guilty of a complete lack of maintenance and not enforcing appropriate security measures at ATM kiosks, in addition to security guards. While some ATM kiosks have installed controlled access system doors to ensure no one else other than the customer can get in, a reality check revealed that most such doors are dysfunctional.

A female official of the Punjab National Bank said, “Controlled access system will certainly give better security as another person cannot get in while one is making a transaction.”

She conceded that most off-site ATM centres are not under surveillance by banks. Their operations are outsourced and banks do not take up the responsibility. “Until an incident of this sort happens, no one even keeps a track of the footage recorded in the CCTV cameras,” she said.