If you have bank account with GTBank, this is a must read for you....

SOURCE --------> http://hypenigeria.com/2016/04/09/why-gtbank-latest-737-simple-mobile-banking-is-a-beautiful-nonsense-uc-artt-ekwueme/

Last Month, Nigerians on social media were tricked by the suspenseful trend "What Is The 737?" popping up, from hashtags to sponsored ads and billboard campaigns. Little did we know that one of Africa's largest and leading contemporary banks, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc widely known as GTBank in Nigeria, who are behind the trend was about to hit us with yet another "innovative banking service."

GTBank-Launches-Innovative-Service-Delivery-Channel-–-Bank-737

Weeks later, it was officially launched to the public, albeit it has been in operation weeks prior to it's official introduction, as i have used It twice last month.

They say " Just Dial *737# "

It's as easy as that. What this service simply does is that by just dailing *737# you can either

1. Open a GTBank Account

2. Transfer Money ( anytime of the day 24/7)

3. Purchase Airtime

4. Check account balance and many more, right at the convenience of your fingertips, using jusy your mobile phone ( even a Nokia torch will perform this service, apparently you don't require any internet access to do so) ... but am here to talk about the security risk sorrounding the "Fund Transfer" service included and why it's a 'beautiful nonsense'

Just yesterday a friend of mine called me and was lamenting on how some group of boys ganged up against him and made off with his GTBank ATM card and cell phone, at about 7:21pm somwhere in Suleja. Getting to a nearby branch to lay complaint of his stolen card the next day, alas 20,000 Naira has been hijacked off his bank account already.

"Chai !! na wa ooo, for this dollar bill economy.. I exclaimed as he narrates his ordeal to me. And sadly, that' actually to the last penny savings on his account. Unfortunately, prior to the ugly incident, this dude was not aware of the bank's newly introduced banking service. Thus wouldn't have known that with just your GTBank ATM card and registered phone number its now easy to transfer money from one bank account to another in a minute.

HOW THEY DID IT, and WHY IT'S a 'BEAUTIFUL NONSENSE' ??

Now that's why I called this service a 'beautiful nonsense' because of its high risk and poor security. Of course since they were in possession of his cell phone and GTBank ATM naira Mastercard, the 'innovative smart criminals' dialed *737# followed the instructions, filled in the amount they wanted, their account number, their bank and lastly 4-digit security code which is the last 4 digits on the ATM card, and boom !!! the money is transfered right inside their own account.

SOURDE ----------> http://hypenigeria.com/2016/04/09/why-gtbank-latest-737-simple-mobile-banking-is-a-beautiful-nonsense-uc-artt-ekwueme/

The bank brags that this service is safe and convenient. 'Convenient' ? Yes for sure, but 'Safe' ? a big NO, and will never be safe with the current procedure for money transfer, even if Vincent Enyeama decides to make a U - turn back to the Super Eagles.

We all know many Nigerians banking with Guaranty Trust Bank still stands a high risk of losing their money to smart bad guys, we all know an average Nigerian moves about to his or her office and almost everywhere with ATM card and cell phone, and we know what that means (that isnto say; criminals can even walk up to you and do the smart move.) We also know many children have easy access to their parents cell phone, which most will know the last four digits of their ATM card, and we know what that means.

One of the major essence of keeping our money in the bank is for safety, what then happens when banks services are no longer safe ? It becomes a 'beautiful nonsense.'

MY SUGGESTION / SECURITY SOLUTION

I suggest to, and advice the management of GTBank to consider the following for safety of their *737# Money Transfer service.

1. Customers Must Choose their 4-digits code by themselves

Just like the ATM card security code for withdrawals, rather than making the last 4 digits of customers naira master card as default security code for money transfer, it should be a decision for each customer to choose whatever 4 digits he or she wants as security code. Thus nobody, even if they are in possession of your ATM card and cell phone can temper with the money in your bank account.

2. It Should Be Optional

I strongly suggest for security reasons, that this particular service should be optional. Of course as it stands now, the service is automatically activated for all GTBank account holders with their ( ATM) Naira Mastercard . This is an epic fail by the company, I must bluntly say.

So I firmly stand that customers should be allowed to decide if such services be activated on their bank account or not, as many Nigerians operate accounts with different banks each for a particular purpose.

SEE ALSO : Nigerian Naira On the Fall Again In the Parallel Market

MY CONCLUSION

All said and yet to be done, while we await on the management of GTBank to act with immediate affect to these regards, I will advise my fellow Nigerians banking with Guaranty Trust Bank to stay at alert and avoid risking their hard earned money in this though economy to bad guys.

Thank you all for reading through. I hope I made a few sense with my 'beautiful nonsense.' Until I write you again, stay blessed and keep making legal money. I remain Uc Artt Ekwueme (Chief Editor for HypeNigeria.com) ucarttekwueme@gmail.com ...drops pen....Bye.

Make sure you Share this insightful piece with Friends and Love ones to help them keep their money Safe.

SOURCE -------> http://hypenigeria.com/2016/04/09/why-gtbank-latest-737-simple-mobile-banking-is-a-beautiful-nonsense-uc-artt-ekwueme/

I also agree that the four digit pins should be set by the customer and not the last four digits of their ATM. Imagine living in a crowded environment. It doesn't take much for someone to take a peek at your ATM card to memorize your pin and then find a way to get hold of your phone.

The advantage is more than the disadvantage. The introduction of the BVN makes so much sense when theft such as that mentioned by the OP is perpetuated. It will take less than 10mins to get to know the criminals that did that. I am sure the GTB management would have done a proper survey and brainstorming before embarking on the *737# concepts.

Cash transfers culprits will be easier to track down in a BVN compliant system....

end time post

ok

This commentary is a beautiful nonsense.
Your condemnation of the idea was outright
Should banks stop issuing ATM cards because an armed robbers can hijack you and ask for your PIN?
Guard your phone and ATM cards.

Blood of God

Op, that's absolutely true. A separate pin should be used apart from the digit on the atm.
But still it's not a beautiful nonsense.

My own last four digits are not even working as password, so I've found it so hard activating that

Nonsense post by OP.

Needlessly castigating one of the best banking innovations of our time.
I would have zero problems as far as crooks are willing to steal my money via bank transfer!
In this day and age of BVN, the foolish thief who does that will be leading you straight to his doorstep!

Even if he provides a fake Address, his biometric data will be flagged and anywhere he opens a new account or makes a transaction within a banking hall he will be arrested immediately!

There is nothing 'unsafe' about it! Unless that criminal is a fool he will never attempt transferring money to another account as it is just too easy to trace. This is why the BVN was introduced in the first place! To stop financial crimes completely!

I wonder how the banking sector operates and common sense doesn't prevail there I see. If I were to head the banking sector, all these scams will be minimized or drastically reduced.
Sometimes I ask why someone will run to the bank that he was defrauded or a similar case like the one above and the bank will do absolutely nothing about it. Why not transfer or reverse the funds back to its source? if the funds have been withdrawn, why not place a lien on the account and reverse when the account recieves a deposit?

Lol

737 is beautiful and has been more of a lifesaver than nonsense. Students!! u know waamsayin!

Aw dah one take concern fuel price

Dear Op,
First the Caption of this write up is Misleading and Unbefitting.
The folks at GTBank have done a great job coming up with this unprecedented breakthrough. Please note that this innovation is leading the Nigerian banking sector to the pinnacle of Customer Convenience.

However, If you are synonymous with tech trends, you will agree with me that the first solution is not always the final solution.
So while you have raised a very good point on security concern of the *737# service, it is completely wrong to try to harm the good intentions of the service.

Remember, A great deal of security lies in the hands of the user, one cannot be complacent on security issues.

This service has saved me on numerous occasions, its fast, its convenient, and it is extremely reliable.

what kind of criminal transfers money to his own account?

He can trace his money na.
Let him go to GTB, they will check up d account and bank the money was sent to.
This is so easy, I think.

well I wouldn't say it is a total rubbish because it equally helps and reduces stress...with the complaints coming in..and as a staff of GTBank all am suggesting is for customers to have a secret question and answer as that of the internet banking so as to help tighten up security and as suggested too if the four digits is been customized by the customer it would really help stop the fraudulent activities and will be very nice also... I think customers are enjoying the service because I see some other banks has joined the trend...GTBANK remains strong and reliable and will always do best in protection of customers wealth...

hemartins:
Ok

Bye bye Nigerian's ...

YOU REALLY SPOKE MY MIND. They need to upgrade it to secret pin rather than just last 4 digits.

So true, though it's fast and stress free, it's also risky. Even someone close to you can transfer the money and instantly delete the debit alert

Op, u can password ur phone. The advantage outweighs d disadvantage. Wt Bvn, d culprits will be easily arrested.

Well said. Anything can happen in Nigeria, that kinda service is not safe

I agree there should be added security to the program in the form of two way security. Not just phones and last 4 digit of your atm card. There should be a pin that's known by the user alone and also gtb should not just subscribe all their users to the program. They need to allow people subscribe to it. This is a breach of agreement. Why sign me up for something i don't agree to?

A pin is a personal identification number and the standard rules of pins and password is never to write it down. So how come the head of risk and banking security of GTB doesnt know of this basic fact? Gtb is contravening all known security laws by allocating a default pin of last 4 digits of your atm card which is in the plain sight of everyone and one not chosen by the user. Also a pin should be changeable and not static. Iw ish we have class action lawsuits in Nigeria we should be milking this stupid companies dry for their silliness.


And to top it off GTB is the least of banks that would be willing to help in cases of fraud. I hear people talk about BVN, how many times has money being stolen through transfer and the bank helped ever since the introduction of BVN? Quit talking rubbish and face reality here.

if they would be insuring such money made on any transfer through this medium it would have made sense but nope they dont and the user has to bare the brunt of such.

The US banking system we are following insures all card transactions and the user can get the money back in cases of fraud but not here even when the fraud was caused by the loopholes in the banks system.

We need to start asking serious questions about our rights from this banks and institutions.


This is beautiful nonsense indeed and should be scrapped . Give it time and people would start way laying people and be robbing them of their hard earned cash. Yeah, it makes things easier but their should be more added security.

The funds are easily traceable because it's an electronic transfer to ANOTHER account. I mean, you might lose the money for a few days but in the end you'll get it back and the criminals arrested

Its convenient but one needs to be careful with one's phone.

In as much as I feel it's a bit simple,


I can't remember if you need to first activate it, I know UBA is probably testing something similar with *919#.

The thing is for the first transaction you'll need to use ur account no, atm card and set a pin for yourself.

Plus randomly it may ask you to input your account number.

@OP: If someone can conveniently collect or steal your mobile phone from anywhere, then it would be easier for that same person to leave with your cash, that way u can't even trace it unlike now with funds transfer and BVN.





ThefakeStan

I don't subscribe to making transfers using the ATMs. Recent reports show that they have the highest number of fraudulent activities as Nigerians find it very easy to give out their PINs and the information needed are always easy to get.
My Diamond mobile app gives me the convenience of making so much transactions and the highest assurance of safety.
Their Magic Cash service is also very cool and life saving. I remember the day I confidently went to their Atm to withdraw not knowing that my card had been stolen. Thank God I had activated Magic Cash.. all I did was just to enter some series of numbers...and the ATM paid.
MyBank.

jarkbauer:
This commentary is a beautiful nonsense. All i will say you can not resist change and development in the name of one off's. Should banks stop issuing ATM cards because armed robbers can hijack you and ask for your PIN?

Did the OP suggest anything relating to what you wrote


Pls read again

Yes BVN would hav been a good option but just d way it takes banks a long time to transfer back stolen funds or even treat fraud related issues, GTB would just end up wasting one's time with the usual saying 'there is nothing we can do'. Speaking from personal experience