RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das called on banks to intensify their efforts against ‘mule accounts’ and enhance customer awareness and education initiatives to combat digital fraud. Mule accounts, used by scamsters to launder money or transfer illicit funds, often involve individuals serving as intermediaries for transferring stolen or fraudulently obtained money across multiple locations to obscure the trail.
During a meeting with the MDs and CEOs of public and private sector banks, Das noted the ongoing improvement in banks’ asset quality, loan provisioning, capital adequacy, and profitability. He emphasized the need for banks to strengthen governance standards, risk management practices, and compliance culture, along with ensuring robust cybersecurity controls and effective management of third-party risks.
Das highlighted several critical issues, including the persisting gap between credit and deposit growth, liquidity risk management and ALM-related issues, trends in unsecured retail lending, and the need to bolster cybersecurity and manage third-party risks. Additionally, he underscored the importance of strengthening assurance functions, improving credit flows to MSMEs, increasing the usage of the Indian Rupee for cross-border transactions, and enhancing banks’ participation in the innovation initiatives of the Reserve Bank.
