Rise in average value of card, internet banking frauds: Govt data

Average fraud value up at Rs 34,802 in 2021-22, but number of such instances down 8% to 65,045

The value of the average banking fraud involving cards and internet banking was up 8.5 per cent to Rs 34,802 in 2021-22 (FY22), even as the number of such instances declined year-on-year.

There were 65,045 such instances of fraud in FY22, according to data released in the Lok Sabha (LS) on Monday.

The total value involved was Rs 226.4 crore. The data covered fraud in scheduled commercial banks for automated teller machines (ATMs) and other kinds of cards, besides transactions covered under the category ‘card/internet-ATM/debit cards, credit cards, and internet banking’.

By comparison, there were 70,655 instances in 2020-21 (FY21), according to the LS data. The overall amount remained nearly the same at Rs 226.6 crore, which caused the average amount to increase. 
 

Cases of ATM fraud seem to be concentrated in some states more than others.

Data found that just five states in India make up nearly three-fourths of all card fraud cases in the country. Maharashtra, which continues to have a high instance of such cases, reported 26,085 cases in FY22 amounting to Rs 74.62 crore, or Rs 28,606 for each case on average. The state accounted for 40 per cent of all fraud cases in the country. By comparison, Delhi, which reported 8,075 cases to the tune of Rs 24.35 crore, accounted for 12.4 per cent of such fraud cases. 
 

Among individual banks, Kotak Mahindra made up for about half of all such frauds, in volume terms, with 33,296 cases in FY22; which, though, is down from its 65 per cent share of a total of 70,655 cases in FY21. In value terms, at Rs 57.72 crore in FY22 (down from Rs 64.23 crore in FY21), these frauds accounted for a fourth of the total, for the bank. 

Axis Bank was second with 6,124 cases (worth Rs 25.07 crore, or 10 per cent total in value terms) in FY22. The number of cases for Axis is up from 5,407, but the value is down from Rs 32.38 crore in FY21.

The two banks are followed by ICICI Bank (5,002 cases worth Rs 34.39 crore), HDFC Bank (3,866 cases worth Rs 10.61 crore), and American Express Banking Corporation (2,258 cases worth Rs 5.83 crore), according to FY22 data.

ICICI Bank has seen a rise in both — number of transactions and fraud value in FY22 — compared with 1,390 and Rs 32.67 crore, respectively in FY21.

The country’s largest bank, State Bank of India, saw a 40 per cent fall in the number of frauds at 1,187, but the value remained almost the same at Rs 22.62 crore for FY22.