The festive season is here, as members of the public go about enjoying festivities, the Central Bank has tipped the public on safety tips when using digital payment systems to avoid cyber-fraud. Increasingly, Rwandans are turning to digital payment and digital mediums like, payment cards, point of sales (POS) devices, mobile phones, and personal computers to avoid carrying cash and avoiding theft or long queues at the bank. A user withdraws money from an ATM. Net photos. According to John Karamuka, the Director of Payment System at BNR, the general role of digital payments system is not only to boost the effectiveness of the financial system and the economy, but also to stimulate financial inclusion as it provides the ability to access financial services. He noted that mobile payments, require using mobile phones to perform funds transfers and payments for goods or services, while mobile banking uses mobile phones to access someone’s bank account and make payment transactions. For Internet banking, Karamuka explained that the system uses the internet to access bank account and make payment transactions. He further noted that anyone can do money transfers (domestic and international), merchants payments, payments for water, electricity, school fees, airtime, taxes, Irembo services (official documents, Police services, among others), transport, and microloans repayment, at the comfort of their homes, through using digital payments. Benefits of digital payments Karamuka pointed out that digital means of payments are convenient and time saving as they smoothen payment transactions and save money that would have been otherwise used to go to the physical branch of payment to the service provider or merchant office. He added, the affluence of conducting financial transactions is probably the biggest persuader to go digital. Customers can pay anytime from any part of the world. It is also a safer and easier option when someone is traveling. However, with the uptake of digital payments, he cautioned members of the public to exercise caution and take some precautionary measures to avoid theft and fraud. Digital payments security tips Pin security tips “Your Personal Identification Number should be kept secret because it allows access to important services, for instance, the aptitude to extract cash, change personal information, and more. A personal identification number (PIN) is a security code for authenticating a person’s identity. The PIN is used for card payments and mobile payments,” Karamuka stated. He said, in order to protect one’s PIN, it’s important to select one that is not an easy guess hence shunning using birthdays or memorable dates for a PIN. Karamuka urges clients to keep their PIN a secret, but reachable. Payment by credit card by using a POS machine. “Protect it, and never write it on their ATM or debit cards, or mobile phone and most importantly hide PIN entry,” he said. He noted when anyone enters their PIN at an ATM or cash register or mobile phone, they ought to cover the keypad with their free hand so that nobody can see what they type in. The Director of Payment Systems at the Central Bank also emphasized that if someone thinks their PIN could have been compromised, they should change it immediately. He cautioned the public against, using the same PIN for multiple devices and never to disclose their debit or credit card, mobile money, mobile banking or internet banking PIN or password to anyone. Do not use any number arrangement that is printed on a debit or credit card to formulate the PIN for that card, Karamuka warned. Other security tips When it comes to payments, he said, one should always keep watch of your payment card during usage and instantly take it back and bother to check if there is not any inconsistency between the transaction receipt or SMS details and the actual transactions. “Immediately report to the card issuer if the payment card gets lost or stolen. Ensure you securely dispose-off receipts and statements, and never permit anyone, for example, a merchant to store your card information,” he said. The BNR official stressed that no one should share their (Card Verification Value-CVV) and PIN with anyone or even leave their payment card with anyone. For Mobile Money, he noted that clients should always verify and install accurate wallets applications, confirm that their phones are locked, if not in use. He urged the Bank’s customers to avoid using open Wi-Fi for making online payments, not to scan untrusted (Quick Response-QR) codes and not to ever hand over their devices to strangers. “Shun answering phone calls or SMS asking for PINs change or notifying about rewards or any other mobile wallet detail and make sure that the beneficiary’s mobile phone number and the amount are accurate before confirming the transaction,” Karamuka added. He emphasized that one should report immediately to the mobile money issuer, if they lose their mobile phone. For Internet banking, the bank official explained that one should only use verified and trusted browsers and HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure HTTPS secured websites for payments, always keep your payment transactions applications updated with the latest versions. “Never store login identifications on mobile phones, do away with transacting through public devices and on unsecured or open networks, or sharing your OTP (One Time Password) with anyone,” he added. “Avoid responding to e-mails inquiring for credentials change or expiry or informing about rewards or any other bank account detail and don’t transfer money without verifying carefully credentials of the payment beneficiary,” he added.
