Norms to guard client privacy soon: Thorat

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon issue guidelines to ensure customer privacy while sharing credit information.

The Credit Information Act is already in place and the necessary guidelines are being framed to operationalise the provisions of the Act. The direct sales agents of banks and entities who have access to customer data should be sensitive to privacy concerns, RBI executive director Usha Thorat said. She was addressing a seminar on cyber security for financial services here today.

Thorat said credit information sharing will help customers with sound track record get better credit terms. She said the apex bank has asked banks to ensure continuity in business operations, especially of their electronics channels like automated teller machines (ATMs) to avoid inconvenience to customers.

Referring to risks associated with the electronic systems in banks, Thorat said the operational concerns came to the fore during the July floods in Mumbai which affected the working of ATMs in waterlogged areas and at places where remote support remained inadequate.

With the IT prowess and cost benefit, India is today a major center for outsourcing. While it reflects confidence in services available out of India it also brings challenges of information security with it, she said.

The reputation risk poses a huge challenge to banks and financial institutions which can't afford failure on this count, she said.