Land Bank's reply

THIS is in reply to the article titled, "420T lose to ATM skimming" published in your newspaper on Nov. 18, 2016.

1. On the number of ATM skimming victims in Naga City, Cebu.

We wish to clarify that during the period reported in the article, only one case of unauthorized withdrawal from a Landbank account has been confirmed in Cebu City. Landbank is working closely with Bancnet and has been in constant communication with Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak to resolve the issue of his compromised account.

We further hope to clarify that none of the alleged unauthorized withdrawals cited in the article was made at a Landbank ATM, including Councilor Tumulak's account, which was affected through another bank's terminal.

2. On the late response of Landbank in blocking Councilor Tumulak's account.

As soon as Councilor Tumulak reported the unauthorized withdrawal from his account around 10 in the morning of Nov. 9, 2016, his card was immediately blocked and he was asked to change his PIN. The last unauthorized withdrawal from his account was made at 12:43 early in the morning of that day, November 9, several hours before he filed his complaint.

The confusion may have been caused by iAccess (Landbank's online banking service) print out that only reflected transactions of the previous day and did not yet reflect the 12:43 noon withdrawal. Landbank clients are reminded, as is stated in the transaction summary page of Landbank iAccess, that "online statement viewing is available only for historical transactions" and does not include same day transactions.

Landbank continues to work with Bancnet to resolve the issue and will continue to update Councilor Tumulak on the status of the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, we advise our clients to transact only through Landbank ATM terminals and to take extra caution in protecting their ATM card's CVV and Personal Indentification Number or PIN. The CVV is the three-digit number found beside the signature panel at the back of the Landbank Visa debit card.

For further protection, cardholders are encouraged to download the Landbank mobile banking app and take advantage of the Mobilock facility which will allow them to instantly lock or unlock their ATM cards for protection against fraudulent usage. The Landbank Mobile Banking App may be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

We hope this helps straighten out the facts.-- from Catherine Rowena B. Villanueva, First Vice President, Corporate Affairs Department, Land Bank of the Philippines