BDO Unibank Inc. said clients whose accounts were hacked on the weekend of Dec. 11-12 will be reimbursed to keep its “good customer relationship” even if the SM Group bank “is not legally liable.”
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“Liability clause is a regular compliance in the banking industry. This has been part of the normal compliance for a long time. There was no added clause due to the recent incident,” said BDO in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 21.
BDO, the country’s biggest bank, is requiring the victims of the hacking incident to sign quit-claim forms before reimbursing losses. It has previously announced that they are in the process of reimbursing 700 affected clients.
“BDO made exceptions and shouldered the losses not caused by the clients to maintain good customer relationship even if the bank is not legally liable,” it added in response to questions regarding its terms and conditions in reimbursing affected accounts and for other remedies.
Last Friday, Dec. 17, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Director Melchor T. Plabasan of the Risk and Innovation Supervision Department said the BSP is looking into BDO’s terms and conditions or waivers in reimbursing the hacked accounts.
Plabasan said the “quitclaim form is actually a waiver of the right of the customer to pursue further actions against the bank.” He said that this is a consumer protection issue and also "probably" a public policy consideration.
The BSP has not made any statements regarding a bank's responsibility and liability when its clients lose money due to fraudulent activities, but it has been stressing in the past that it is important to report fraud as soon as possible to ensure remedial measures are immediately implemented.