In an efffort to fortify its ATMs against theft and vandalism, State Bank of India plans to install a futuristic, centrally-monitored 24x7 electronic surveillance system.

The system will, among other things, ring SBI’s ATM sites with CCTV cameras and motion sensors, install panic buttons, use two-way audio to deter attempted crime, remotely control the shutter of the ATM room and put in place a quick-response team to attend to suspicious incidents.

India’s largest bank intends to procure the e-surveillance system on an operating expenditure model basis for 15,000 ATM sites. It could increase the number of ATM sites to be covered under e-surveillance by 3,000. SBI currently has 59,500-odd ATMs.

The move to bring ATM sites under e-surveillance comes in the wake of incidents, reported across the country, of customers being robbed inside ATMs, and of criminals installing skimmers/cloning devices (used to steal personal information stored in debit cards) and hidden cameras (to capture personal identification numbers) in ATMs, and then using cloned cards to break into bank accounts.

The e-surveillance is expected to ensure detection of intrusions or unauthorised activities in the ATM premises with the help of four high-resolution cameras — one each inside and outside the main ATM room, one in the ATM backroom and a hidden pin-hole camera in the main ATM room — to facilitate real-time monitoring from the command centre of the vendor managing the ATMs.

The command centre will remotely activate a siren to scare away culprits if they do not respond to two-way communication. The system will generate alerts in case of fire or smoke and automatically regulate the power supply.

Real-time watch

SBI is looking at the e-surveillance system to provide access via a real-time dashboard so that its officials can view ATM sites through smartphone apps or any other device and know the health status of all the installed equipment.

The sites will have public announcement systems, which will play pre-recorded messages, for instance, asking customers not to divulge the PIN details.

The e-surveillance system is expected to instantly detect disconnection of cameras from the command centre or non-recording of videos or images locally at the ATM site or video loss/ blacking out/ masking the camera by any miscreant, and take appropriate action.

Further, the centre can inform the bank’s ATM switch centre to cease operations at a suspected site in case any suspicious activity is detected.

In case of any suspicious incident, a quick-response team is expected to reach the ATM site within 10 minutes of reporting of the incident at the command centre and call and co-ordinate with the local police and bank officials.

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