ATM cash withdrawal limit raised

The central bank has raised the daily limit of cash withdrawal from bank ATMs.
Releasing the Unified Directives to all licensed institutions today, the central bank increased the daily limit for cash withdrawal from the debit cards to Rs 100,000 from the existing limit of Rs 60,000. 
Earlier, the central bank had – on September 6 – reduced the daily limit to Rs 60,000 per day from Rs 100,000 in the wake of ATM heist in Kathmandu.
Likewise, the central bank has also increased per transaction limit to Rs 25,000 from Rs 20,000.

Nepal Police arrest 122 Chinese nationals suspected of cyber crime

Nepal Police today held some 122 Chinese nationals, who entered Nepal on tourist and student visas, on suspicion of their involvement in cyber and financial crime.
They were arrested from seven private residences – some 3 in Manamaiju and 2 each in Bansbari and Budhanilkantha – today. Police also confiscated a large number of laptops and mobile phones from their apartments, Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) under Nepal Police confirmed.
The operation was conducted by the CIB in coordination with Metropolitan Crime Division-Teku, Metropolitan Police Range-Teku, Metropolitan Police Office-Rani Pokhari and the Police Headquarters, the CIB said, adding that it is not known whether these Chinese nationals had valid visas to stay in Nepal or were overstaying.
The CIB is expecting to find out what exactly the Chinese nationals were doing in their rented apartments. “They were living secluded lives in rented apartments, which looked like offices,” the CIB said, adding that they also possessed special identity cards. “Anyone, who wanted to enter their apartments had to produce the IDs, which raised the eyebrows of police.”
The police said that they were arrested after monitoring their activities for few days using ‘urgent arrest warrants’, which allows police to detain suspects for up to 24 hours.
According to the CIB, most of the arrested Chinese nationals had visited Nepal on tourist visas but they were not engaged in touristic activities. “Some of them had also arrived in Nepal on student visas.”
Earlier, almost four months ago, police arrested some 6 Chinese nationals in connection with the the cyber heist in the banking sector, which saw illegal withdrawal of at least Rs 35.8 million from ATMs in Nepal and India.

Commercial banks switch to chip-based cards

After the diktat of the central bank following the hacking incident all the 28 commercial banks have switched to chip-based debit and credit cards from the traditional magnetic stripe cards.
According to the central bank, commercial banks have complied with the central bank’s direction ahead of the given deadline and switched the plastic cards. After the incident in which Chinese hackers withdrew millions of rupees from automated teller machines (ATMs) of different banks and considering the glaring lapses in security related to the banking system, the central bank – on September 5 – had directed banks to provide their customers only chip-based cards within three months.
Concluding that use of magnetic stripe cards were one of the many challenges for banking security, the central bank had asked banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to replace the traditional magnetic stripe cards with chip-based cards, which are considered comparatively more secure.
Chinese hackers were found to have hacked banks by using magnetic stripe-based cards of different banks. Along with replacing magnetic stripe debit and credit cards with the chip-based cards, commercial banks have also stopped issuing the unsecured magnetic stripe-based cards.
After the hacking incident, the central bank also asked banks to make all point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and ATMs chip-readable and ensure 24/7 surveillance at ATMs.
The central bank is also asking banks and financial institutions to invest a certain percentage of their profit in IT security.

8.34 million Nepalis have access to mobile banking services

The number of mobile banking users has increased by over 4.5 times in the past four years. “Some 8.34 million Nepalis have access to mobile banking services – a fivefold jump compared to four years ago from 1.75 million to 8.34 million – as of mid-October,” according to a report of the central bank.
An expanding number of smartphone users and increased coverage of 3G and 4G services are attributed to the sharp rise in the number of mobile banking and internet banking users, read the report ‘Situation of Access to Finance in Nepal 2019,’ launched today.
Though, Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) records, however, reveal that the number of mobile internet users has jumped to 14.65 million as of April 2019, the internet banking users stand at only 917,344. “Some 168,307 Nepalis use branchless banking. Likewise, there are some 1,530 branchless banking,” according to the report.
The rising popularity of mobile banking – a service provided by banks that allow clients to conduct financial transactions remotely using a smartphone – has also helped increase the number of mobile banking users.  Banks are competing by focusing on new technologies to provide different and easier services to their clients also due to easy access of smartphones and internet connectivity. But there is security concern about mobile banking as well as other banking services that use modern technology. In September, five Chinese nationals were arrested for stealing Rs 12.6 million from several ATMs of the Kathmandu Valley, causing people to be concerned about security features of modern banking services. Due to security concern, the central bank has fixed limit on transaction through mobile or internet. The central bank has set limits of transaction through mobile or Internet. “Only Rs 5,000 can be transacted through mobile banking at one time,” according to the new directives that dictates the weekly and monthly transactions of Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively.
But mobile banking has become very convenient for people – especially for household purposes – and getting popular due to its convenient features. Though the expansion of branches – particularly in rural areas – and increasing use of technologies like mobile apps have helped increase the number of users of mobile and internet banking in recent days, the numbers of people using ATM, internet banking, credit card, and debit card have also significantly increased.
“There are 6.7 million people holding ATM cards, up from 4.13 million people six years ago,” the report reads, adding that some 123,146 people have credit cards, up from 57,898 card holders in 2014. “The number of ATM outlets across the country has doubled to 3,316 in the last six years.”
There are 27.8 million deposit accounts and 1.44 million credit accounts of individuals, according to the report. “As of mid-October, banks had enrolled 168,307 customers from their branchless banking outlets in 1,530 locations.”
Despite the rapid progress in the banking sector, some 14 – out of the total 753 – local units in the country still have no bank branches, though central bank has asked the commercial banks to open a branch in each of the 753 local units across the country.
“The bank branches are crowded in Kathmandu as in Province 3, one banking branch serves 2,770 people, whereas in Karnali Province, there is one banking branch for every 4,958 person, and in Sudur Pashchim Province, one banking branch serves 4,409 people,” the report reveals, adding that in Province 5, access to commercial banks has reached all local levels. “Six local units in Sudur Pashchim Province are still have no banks, whereas one local unit each in Province 1 and Gandaki Province lack access to banking and Province 2, Province 3 and Karnali Province have three unbanked local units each.
According to the report, some 60.9 per cent of Nepali population of 29.6 million now has banking access.

Police foil international racket planning to steal money from Nepali banks

Just weeks after the biggest ATM heist by Chinese nationals, more than Rs 15 million has been stolen from the Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (ADBL). But the Police arrested a dozen youth for their alleged involvement in masterminding this huge financial racket.
Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) Teku today revealed that a foreign national residing in India had been planning – for a considerable time – to steal over Rs 5 billion from various banks and financial institutions of Nepal via hacking, and using Nepalis. According to the Police, Peter – also known as Kale –currently residing in Mumbai of India has been involved in masterminding the huge financial racket with the help of Nepali nationals. “We have arrested some twelve persons for their alleged involvement in the case,” the Police said, adding that a special investigation team from MPCD arrested them from various areas within and outside Kathmandu Valley. “They were involved in stealing the money through the process of ‘credential hacking’ from various banks and financial institutions, including Agricultural Development Bank and Panas Remit,” the Police confirmed, identifying the arrestees as Lawang Tamang (43) of Meghang Rural Municipality-4 of Nuwakot district; Sanjay Ghale of Kavresthali, Tarkeshwar Municipality-2 in Kathmandu; Laxmi Lama Tamang (40), Nirmala Tamang (20), Nima Tamang (18), all from Naukunda Rural Municipality-5 of Rasuwa; Pushparaj Khadka (42) of Hariban Municipality-2 in Sarlahi; Bidyasagar Lamichhane (23) of Dordi Rural Municipality-3 in Lamjung; Shravan Kumar Shrestha (38) of Bhanu Municipality-9 in Tanahun; Sunita Shrestha (32) of Thimi Municipality-4 in Bhaktapur; Shubankar Panja (30), permanent resident of Kolkata in India, currently residing in Tebahal, Kathmandu; Bijay Sah (22), and Chandara Bahadur Budha (45), both from Bhajani Municipality in Kailali district.
According to the Police, the preliminary investigation indicates that a sum of Rs 47,396,000 was hacked from Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (ADBL). Likewise, a sum of Rs 1,200,000 was stolen from Panas Remit in New Baneshwar.
Spokesperson at the ADBL head office in Kathmandu Him Lal Poudel, however, claimed that the incident occurred due to misuse of password. He suspected that it was not a case of hacking. “The amount stolen by the perpetrators ranged between Rs 15 million and Rs 20 million,” he said adding that the bank has started an internal investigation into the incident alongside police.
“Further investigation is going on to determine the total amount hacked,” the Police also informed, disclosing that Peter used to contact the Nepalis, call them to India for meetings, and then asked them to carry out the fraud offering commission ranging from 15 per cent to 35 per cent. “Peter then made them send the remaining sum to India via hundi.”
Suspecting the illegal transactions on September 22, staffers of Panas Remit asked the Police to investigate, which led to the arrest of 12 Nepalis.
Some Rs 6 million has been collected by different people in a day from the financial institution. The remittance sender was shown to be the same person, an employee of the company, which has raised suspicion that someone has hacked the employee’s account to send the same sum of money multiple times. “The Police started a full-fledged investigation after the staffers from the Panas Remit complained of the suspicious transactions,” the Police said, adding that the same mastermind also manipulated user-id and IP address of Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (ADBL) to transfer the money into the accounts of 11 different persons. “Further investigation into the case is going on.”

Security audit of BFIs mandatory

The central bank has asked the banks and financial institutions to implement precautionary measures to minimise the possible threat on their cyber security infrastructure.
The central bank has made it mandatory for the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to conduct an audit of their information and technology (IT) system regularly after the recent ATM hacking exposed significant security vulnerabilities in the banking system. Almost two weeks ago, the Chinese hackers withdrew millions through ATMs of different banks through malware attack.
Issuing a three-point directive to bank and financial institutions (BFIs) to address and manage internal and external risks in use of information technology (IT) today, the central bank has also instructed BFIs to carry out regular monitoring and reporting of their systems and share information of any incident or attack to the respective agencies.
Stating that there have been attempts to infiltrate the systems of banks and financial institutions from unauthorised people or places by placing fake order or correspondences, the central bank directed BFIs to regularly audit their IT system and promptly address the IT and security flaws that are detected. It has also directed BFIs to adopt best international practices in the IT and security system at their respective firms. The central bank has also directed the BFIs to prepare preventive, detective and responsive IT security strategies and implement them as soon as possible.
The central bank has also asked to take necessary measures to minimise external risks such as spam, phishing and spoofing, among others that could result in the loss and theft of data. “The BFIs must standardise technologies related to perimeter defence, access control, encryption, anti-virus and firewall to cope up with possible risks regarding cyber attack, malware virus and ransomware at BFI’s website, mobile applications, authenticated social networks and the entire information and technology system,” the directive reads, adding that the BFIs should also raise awareness among office bearers on IT and security issues.
Malware – a type of software – is used to infiltrate and damage the entire network system. Likewise, ransomware variants encrypt the files on the affected computer making the files inaccessible to the concerned authority. The hackers mainly use the software to block access to a computer system or computer files until a sum of money is paid.
The central bank's directives to take precautionary moves comes in the wake of recent ATM heist in Kathmandu, where a group of hackers has stolen over Rs 18.9 million by hacking the payment switch of Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS) through use of cloned debit and credit cards of 17 member banks of the NEPS that use Visa system, according to preliminary findings of the central bank. “Likewise, Rs 1.05 million Indian Currency (IC) was stolen in India from six commercial banks of Nepal on the same day, according to the findings.
Earlier today, the central bank also summoned chief executive officers of banks and financial institutions to discuss about security measures to check cyber attack or threats to their IT system. During the meeting, central bank Governor Dr Chiranjibi Nepal instructed the chief executives to keep vigil over their systems, particularly during the festive season as the banks and financial institutions will have longer holidays in those days.
The central bank has also lowered the maximum limit for cash withdrawal using debit card from last Thursday as part of security measures, though the hackers will anyway use malware to withdraw any amount as they did last Saturday.

Central bank asks BFIs to switch to chip-based cards, lowers withdrawal limit

The central bank has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to switch to chip-based cards within three months, and also lowered the withdrawal limits from the ATMs.
Releasing a study report today, the central bank said the recent ATM hacking scam – when the Chinese hackers withdrew millions of rupees from ATM kiosks of different banks and due to lapses in security in the banking system – had occurred through the use of magnetic stripe cards and BFIs should replace the cards with chip-based cards within three months.
Acting on the recommendation of the report, the central bank has also suggested that all devices, such as PSO machines and ATMs, be made chip readable within three months and BFIs and Payment System Operators/Payment Service Providers must have 24/7 security surveillance.
The central bank today has also lowered the withdrawal limit – on the recommendation of the report – from ATMs to Rs 20,000 from Rs 25,000 on a single transaction and to Rs 60,000 from Rs 100,000 in a day.
The central bank has also directed BFIs to conduct vulnerability assessment and penetration testing within six months and to audit their card-related information systems every year BFIs and PSOs/PSPs must also build strong information technology infrastructure and privilege access management system and follow the payment card industry and data security standard in the ATM switch and audit every six months.
Earlier the central bank had formed a taskforce to probe the cyber attack on the banking sector under the coordination of Nepal Rastra Bank’s executive director Bam Bahadur Mishra. The committee reported that the Chinese hackers withdrew Rs 18.9 million from 68 ATMs of 17 banks in Nepal and Rs 35.8 million siphoned off through 132 ATMs of 24 banks in India. “The amount is just a preliminary figure and the exact amount that was withdrawn will be determined only after the central bank receives a report from the forensic expert team from Singapore that has been working on it,” the report reads, indicating that the fraud took place between Visa and Nepal Electronic Payment System’s (NEPS) switching system. The committee has also recommended short-term and long-term measures, apart from asking the central bank to lower the withdrawal limit from ATMs. “The ATM booths should also be insured,” it adds. “The concrete details of the banking fraud will come only after the expert team from Singapore submits the forensic test report. The team has already started its work and will finalise details by next week.”

NEPS halts inter-banking transaction within its network

The service provider interface that allows the transaction of money deposited in a bank by using cards issued by other member banks, Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS) has halted inter-banking transaction through ATMs within its network after the hacking by Chinese nationals that caused many banks to limit cross banking transactions.
The central bank also confirmed that the NEPS has temporarily stopped the service of cross banking transactions via ATM cards due to the undergoing investigation. NEPS – a common e-payment switching platform of 18 BFIs – has also urged ATM card users within its network to use ATM cards only at their respective banks’ ATM. Likewise, the company – that has been handling electronic payment systems of 11 commercial banks including Prabhu Bank, Machhapuchchhre Bank, Siddhartha Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Prime Bank, Global IME Bank, Sunrise Bank, Janata Bank, Citizens Bank, Bank of Kathmandu, Nepal Bangladesh Bank, and seven development banks including Deva Bikas Bank, Om Development Bank, Sangrila Development Bank, Lumbini Development Bank, Jyoti Bikas Bank, Shine Resunga Development Bank and Excel Development Bank – has also clarified that Saturday’s banking heist has not affected deposits of any customer in any of its member banks.
Likewise, NEPS receives e-payment service from Sunrise Bank and offers service to Sunrise Bank, Machhapuchchhre Bank, Janata Bank, Siddhartha Bank, Citizens Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Bank of Kathmandu, Prime Bank and Nepal Bangladesh Bank.
According to the central bank, two companies – Smart Choice Technologies (SCT) and Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS) – have been handling electronic payment systems of a majority of commercial banks in Nepal.
While SCT receives e-payment service from Himalayan Bank, it is offering payment services to Agricultural Development Bank, Civil Bank, Everest Bank, Himalayan Bank, Laxmi Bank, Mega Bank, Nabil Bank and NMB Bank. Global IME Bank and Prabhu Bank use both SCT and NEPS for e-payment services.
Similarly, Nepal Investment Bank provides e-payment service to Nepal Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Kumari Bank, Century Bank, Sanima Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and NCC Bank. Standard Chartered Bank has its own electronic payment systems. Also, five banks – Nepal Investment, Nabil, Himalayan, Standard Chartered and Sunrise – are principal members of Visa.
The Chinese hackers – on Saturday afternoon – tried to steal millions of rupees from several ATMs in Kathmandu using malware attacks. During the malware attack, a proxy switch was created and all the fake payment approvals were passed by the proxy switching system. The hackers used electronic cards of at least six banks – NIC Asia, Siddhartha, Janata, Global IME, Prabhu and Sunrise – and used them at ATMs of three banks – Nabil, Nepal Investment and Nepal SBI – to illegally withdraw the money.
The Chinese hackers had used fake cards to spoof the link of NEPS with the software used by Visa card and software with banks. The cloned card had verified all the details of the bank’s customers on its own and allowed the hackers steal money from the vending machines.
Though, the police have nabbed six Chinese nationals and four Nepalis and recovered approximately Rs 12.63 million, the banks, payment switching provider and the police are yet to determine the exact amount they stole from the ATMs.
The NEPS chief executive officer Prabin Prakash Chhetri said that the hackers had used fake magnetic stripe cards to withdraw the money in the name of Nepali customers. But the money parked by the customers is not affected.
Banks are using both chip-based Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) cards and also magnetic stripe cards for electronic transactions as the ATM machines accept both types of cards, though central bank has been asking the BFIs to change into chip-based cards. Most of the BFIs have also started using the chip-based cards, though the technology is in transition, of which the Chinese hackers took advantage.
Chhetri, however, said that NEPS has hired a forensic expert from Singapore for further investigation. A digital forensic analyst is an expert who explores the causes behind high level cyber crimes. The forensic expert will analyse digital footprints left by the hackers by assessing the server details, user id platform and browser history, among others to collect evidence of possible loopholes.

Central bank mulls stricter security policy

The central bank is mulling to introduce stricter cybersecurity policy as the Saturday’s hacking on various ATMs in Kathmandu have exposed significant security vulnerabilities in the Nepali banking system.
The central bank is amending its cyber security directive making banks and financial institutions (BFIs) adopt sophisticated technology to prevent the sporadic cyber and malware attacks in the banking system. Some Chinese nationals stole millions from ATMs of different banks few days ago also due to poor IT security among BFIs to cope with cyber and malware attacks, which is not the first time in Nepal.
The central bank will introduce a few provisions for BFIs related to cyber security as soon as the investigation on Saturday’s banking heist concludes, the central bank said, adding that the BFIs should be aware of such cyber attacks and adopt sophisticated technologies.
The central bank has also formed a probe committee led by head of Department of Payment System at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Bam Bahadur Mishra to investigate the ATM Freud. “The committee will prepare its preliminary report by midnight today and submit it to the central bank by tomorrow,” he said, adding that the Chinese hackers have withdrawn substantial amount of money from those ATM boths. The central bank has, however, earlier said that the the BFIs have notified the regulator that the hackers have withdrawn Rs 16.87 million in Nepali currency from ATM cards of different banks and Rs 10.5 million Indian Currency (IC) from ATM booths in India through the use of Nepali ATM cards.
The Nepali ATM cards are used in India also.
The Police claimed that it has recovered around Rs 12.63 million from the five Chinese nationals and suspected rest of the cash looted from Nepal have been carried away by absconders.
“But the details of the heist and the amount withdrawn by hackers will be available only after the digital forensic test, which will take more than a week,” Mishra added.
The hackers, according to Police, used electronic cards of at least six banks – NIC Asia, Siddhartha, Janata, Global IME, Prabhu and Sunrise – and used them at ATMs of three banks – Nabil, Nepal Investment and Nepal SBI – to illegally withdraw the money frpm ATM booths as the BFIs failed to conduct periodic security audits, comply with the latest technology and invest adequately in digital security.
Police has arrested a Chinese citizen Zhu Lianang on Saturday night from a Nabil Bank ATM booth in Durbar Marg, while attempting to withdraw cash. Zhu named four other Chinese nationals, who were involved in stealing cash from ATMs by using cloned debit cards to breach processing systems.
Although the central bank has made it mandatory for banks to conduct information security audits, many banks have not been allocating an adequate budget for a proper audit.
Despite banks making record profits year after year, the BFIs are blamed for not investment in digital security. In the last fiscal year, commercial banks made a net profit of over Rs 60 billion, with almost all of them posting net profits of more than Rs 1 billion each, according to the central bank.
Although most banks have transitioned to debit and credit cards with microchips, there are still a few banks that still use magnetic strips in their cards, which poses a vulnerability. Banks fail to follow security protocols for Swift and governance risk compliance systems for the Nepal Electronic Payment Systems (NEPS) – a local interface that allows transactions of money deposited in one bank using cards issued by other member banks – which should also have management oversight and an independent audit system.
Nepali BFIs currently use different types of software including Finacle, Temenos T24 and different editions of Pumori Plus.

Chinese nationals hacked ATM systems and steal money

Nepal is increasingly becoming a soft target for hackers from around the world as some Chinese hackers steal the money from ATM hacking the system yesterday night, but the depositors money in the banks is safe.
After Chinese nationals hacked ATM systems in Kathmandu, most of the banks have closed down their ATM services throughout the day today though some of them resumed their services in the evening.
The ATMs of over six banks had turned temporarily dysfunctional the whole day after a gang of six Chinese nationals hacked the banks' collective ATM system by hacking the system of Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS) Limited – an interface that allows the transaction of money deposited in a bank by using cards issued by other member banks – according to the Nepal Bankers Association (NBA). “The NEPS has incorporated 11 commercial banks, including Prabhu Bank, Sunrise Bank, Machhapuchchhre Bank, Janata Bank, Siddhartha Bank, Citizens Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Prime Bank, Nepal Bangladesh Bank and Global IME Bank, apart from seven development banks.”
While depositors’ money was not affected by Saturday night’s attack, the exact amount of money looted has yet to be calculated. “The Police confiscated Rs 12.60 million and around $10,000 along with 132 forged VISA debit cards, 17 authentic VISA cards, six mobile phones, a laptop and a data card but the actual figure is yet to be known,” informed the chief of Kathmandu Police Uttam Raj Subedi.
However, records show that a total of Rs 34.5 million was withdrawn illegally in the past two days, including Rs 10.5 million Indian Currency (IC) from India, according to the Payment Systems Department at the central bank. “The hackers used debit cards at least 700 times to withdraw money from ATMs.”
The central bank, through the Monetary Policy 2015-16, had directed Nepali banks and financial institutions to switch to cards equipped with microchips, as they are safer than ones with magnetic strips. Most banks have upgraded their cards to microchips. But the ATMs recognise both the magnetic cards and cards with microchips due to transition of the technology. The hackers took advantage of the weakness, according to a banker.
Five Chinese nationals allegedly involved in the ATM card forgery were arrested from Durbarmarg, Subedi said, adding that the hackers stole millions from the bank accounts of subscribers by forging ATM cards in various ATM booths. Police believe that Zhu and his accomplices used both real and cloned bank cards in a coordinated ATM cash-out attack, where hackers breach a bank or payment processor’s systems and then use bank cards to withdraw millions in a short amount of time.
After arresting – on Saturday night – Zhu Lianang from a Nabil Bank ATM booth in Durbar Marg while trying to withdraw cash, acting on a tip-off, the Police interrogated him, who withdrew thousands in cash from the ATM using cloned debit cards. Upon interrogation, Zhu named four others – Lin Jianmeng, Luo Jialei, Zhu Liangang, Qiu-Yunqing and Chen Bin Bin, all Chinese citizens – as complicit in the hacking spree.”
The Police also seized dozens of ATM cards from the Chinese nationals.
“The Police will further launch an investigation against the accused in collaboration with banks and central bank,” Subedi said, adding that the Chinese nationals landed in Nepal on August 30 – according to their passports – and were planning to return on September 2, which shows that their sole intention was to steal cash.
Those arrested will be taken to court and kept in judicial custody. If convicted they could serve up to five years behind bars, including having to pay a cash penalty equal to the amount they robbed, according to the Police.
Following the incident, some banks urged their customers and staff not to use their debit cards on ATMs operated by other banks.
Meanwhile, the central bank has formed a committee to investigate the attack.
This is, however, not the first time that the foreigners got arrested in ATM forgery in Nepal. Earlier, two Bulgarian nationals were arrested after they were found to be involved in stealing money from ATMs Pokhara in March 2017. Likewise, in April 2017, four Moldovans were also arrested from Thamel on charge of hacking ATM cards and stealing money from bank clients’ accounts the same year. That same day, a Russian national was arrested while stealing money from a Nepal Investment Bank ATM in Durbar Marg. According to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) under Nepal Police, in the last seven years, police have altogether arrested 24 people, 18 of whom were foreigners. “Nepalis have mostly been found assisting foreign hackers.”
As hackers are always in search of countries with weak security systems all over the world, security systems should be upgraded periodically, according to the central bank.

Lalitpur city unveils Nepal’s first seed vending machine

Lalitpur Metropolitan City today unveiled the first of its kind ‘seed vending machine’ in the country to promote rooftop vegetable farming in the city and provide farmers with quality seeds at reasonable prices.
Lalitpur Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan unveiled the state-of-the-art machine in the presence of secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Yubak Dhoj GC, chief of the Agriculture Division Office of the metropolis , Keshav Adhikari, local farmers and journalists. “Our main target is to promote root-top vegetable and flower farming in the city and to provide quality seeds to citizens with minimal cost,” Maharjan said, adding that it will help reduce the organic solid waste to a great extent which is the main problem in the city, if roof-top farming is promoted. “The metropolis is looking forward to installing such machines in all the 29 wards.”
The service seekers, who come at the municipal office, will also buy seeds from the vending machine, he added. “Through the vending machine, farmers can get 36 different varieties of seeds of vegetables and flowers.”
One can buy the vegetable and flower seeds of choice pressing a button on the screen of the vending machine that displays the variety of seeds along with their pictures and price. One needs to put a clean currency bill on the machine and the vending machine issues the packet. The cost ranges from Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 40 to Rs 100.
The machine was procured in a public private partnership model involving Saakal Agro and Seed Traders.  The machine imported from Chennai of India at the cost Rs 900,000 will be operated by traders and they will be looking after its overall maintenance too, Maharjan said, adding that traders needs to renew licence to operate the machine, every year.
“Mayor Maharjan is working with an innovative idea,” agriculture secretary GC said, adding that Nepal’s economy is dependent on agriculture. “The machine will be of great help for commoners to get the seeds they are looking for.”
The city installed ‘Water ATM’ or ‘Pani Padhero’ – in March – to provide the public easy access to safe drinking water, where anyone can drink 200 ml water paying Rs 2.

Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to start test flight from January

The much awaited completion of Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa is going to start test flight in January.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the much-delayed upgradation of the Gautam Buddha Airport has seen 50 per cent of physical progress and it is going to open by January 2019. "The 50 per cent physical progress that the project has achieved is out of 70 per cent of the overall civil works," the CAAN confirmed.
The remaining package involves installation of Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (ANS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems, CAAN director general Sanjiv Gautam informed, adding that the airport has achieved better-than-expected result last month.
After the first phase of upgradation, the airport’s handling capacity will be increased to 760,000 passengers annually, and will be Nepal’s second international airport, which will also serve as an alternate international air transport to Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the only international airport in the country.
Due to the progress in June, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – the financer of the project that has remained out of the project since December last year – is expected to rejoin the project soon.
The ADB had pulled back from the project after the projects' initial deadline ended in December 2017, due to its slow progress. Of the total project cost, the ADB has provided $58.50 million ($42.75 in loans and $15.75 million in grants), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has provided a $15 million loan and CAAN will bear the rest of the cost as counterpart funding.
The CAAN awarded the Rs 6.22-billion Gautam Buddha International Airport upgradation contract to China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in November 2013. It was initially slated to be ready in December 2017. But shortages of fuel and building materials due to the blockade 2015 delayed the upgradation works by six months, and its operation deadline was revised to June 2018.
The final base laying works of 3,000-metre-long and 45-metre-wide runway will be completed by this month-end, Gautam said, adding that it will be blacktopped by September. 

Minister Koirala urges RBB to increase lending

Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) should explore market for itself and not wait for government decision, said finance minister Shankar Prasad Koirala, addressing the 49^th anniversary of the RBB, here today.

The wholly state-owned bank should explore market and expand as the time has changed and it has no monopolhy market like earlier, he said, urging the bank to lend in the productive sectors prioritised by the government.

"Though, the bank has succeeded in deposit mobilisation, it has failed in lending, which is a serious case," he said, adding that the bank should focus on expanding its lending profile in the productive sectors. "The government encourages competition in the financial sector."

Likewise, chief executive of the bank Krishna Prasad Sharma said that the bank will focus on strengthening its capital structure and recovering non-performing loans (NPL).

"The bank will continue to reduce staff cost, expand its banking services and network, and prepare competitive human resource," he said, informing that the bank's targets to increase deposit mobilisation to Rs 121 billion and float Rs 78 billion loan within the next three years.

The only wholly government owned bank has mobilised deposit worth Rs 96 billion until mid-January, whereas its lending stands at Rs 52 billion. With 148 branch network across the country, the bank also provides services from its nine branchless banking offices and 80 ATM outlets across the country.

The net worth of the bank has been gradually increasing, said central bank governor Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, on the occasion. "The bank should focus on increasing non-interest income, Khatiwada said, adding that the balance sheet should also be stronger.

Similarly, finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi said that the bank should now find its own market. "The RBB has operational autonomy," he said, adding that it should however move ahead according to policy and directives of the government and central bank.

NIC Asia Bank bags 'Bank of the Year-Nepal 2013' award

NIC Asia Bank has received the prestigious ‘Bank of the Year 2013- Nepal’ award from The Banker -Financial Times Publication, London.

Director of the bank Lokmanya Golchha and chief executive Sashin Joshi received the Award trophy and Certificate of Merit at the ceremony held at the Hotel Intercontinental, Park Lane, London yesterday.

The judging panel from The Banker magazine chose NIC Asia Bank as the winner of Bank of the Year in Nepal.
‘Bank of the Year ’ is the world’s longest running international banking title that is a testament to the strong management, sound business model and prudent risk approach of the winner Bank.

Earlier, NIC Bank was also awarded with Bank of the Year-Nepal in 2007.

The award was announced by The Banker during its annual award hosting ceremony, where most of the winning banks from 130 countries across the globe were present. The award was announced and presented by the Editors of The Banker Magazine and Michael Buerk-former BBC Correspondent.

Formed after the merger of two class 'A' commercial banks, NIC Asia Bank is now amongst the largest private sector commercial banks in the country in terms of capital base, balance-sheet size, branch/ATM network, customer base and employees.

The bank now has 53 branches and 50 ATMs which is being expanded to a total of 66 branches within one year.

CIB nabs three for ATM fraud

Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) under the Nepal Police has arrested three persons on the charge of withdrawing money and paying from other people's accounts using duplicate ATM cards.

"The CIB rounded up Kewal Prasad Rana of Lalitpur-13, Bir Bahadur Bohora aka Babi, Deepak K C aka Akash of Salyan of Madhyapur Thimi-15, and Naresh Kumar Agrawal of KMC-1, Naxal on charges of making payments with fake ATM cards," read the CIB press release issued here today.

Rana was picked up on Sunday from Saleways Department Store in Lalitpur when he was using a duplicate ATM card on its Point of Sales (PoS) machine, whereas the CIB nabbed Bohora and Agrawal from Kamal Pokhari in Kathmandu.

They have made duplicate ATM cards of various domestic and foreign banks and used to purchase goods from various department stores, it said, adding that they used to encode fake data by deleting original data in the magnetic stripe of ATM/Visa cards. "Rana was nabbed when he was making payment using a fake Visa card at a department store in Lalitpur-3 at around 8.00 pm on October 20."

The CIB also seized 18 ATM/Visa cards of various Nepali, Indian and Bahrain banks including Standard Charted Bank, Jyoti Development Bank, Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank and Bank of Kathmandu from them.

Apart from the duplicate ATM/Visa cards, the CIB also seized a machine used for encoding fake data in the ATM cards, magnetic card reader/encoder, laptop, CPU, charger, AC-DC adapter, pen drives, memory cards, SIM cards, watches, lighter, perfumes and alcohol from Bohora. "They had received new codes to use in ATM cards from a Nigerian national," added the CIB that has also seized a motorcycle (NA 24 PA 3984), two Visa cards of Nepal Investment Bank and Himalayan Bank issued in the name of Bohora, a Nabil Bank VISA card issued in the name of Thal Bahadur Bohora, tax invoice bill of Bhatbhateni Supermarket worth Rs 6,300, a mobile phone and wireless mouse from Bohora.

The police is looking for a Nigerian citizen with whom those arrested had a  number of email conversations. The police is trying to the find out whether the Nigerian national is operating from Nepal or outside

Meanwhile, the central bank has asked the banks and financial institutions to strengthen their security system and take measures to reduce operational risks. The central bank has also asked them to do a separate operational risks assessments and submit a report.