Central Bank of Russia ready to act as 'one-stop shop' on behalf of banks to interact with telecom operators to combat fraud - Nabiullina

MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia advocates combining the efforts of banks and telecom operators to combat fraud, and is ready to act as a "one-stop shop" on behalf of lending institutions as part of these efforts, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.

"Fraudsters first get to a person, call the person and so on, and only then to the person's bank account. Telecom operators have already learned to identify fraudsters' calls. The capabilities of artificial intelligence allow for this. Telecom operators can provide an alarm signal, can block, cut off a call," Nabiullina said during a government meeting.

"Moreover, they can and should warn banks that a specific person is currently under attack, so that banks on their part can take precautions and help the person," she said.

Nabiullina said that this mechanism has been proposed to be used with the consent of the respective client. There is already successful experience in its application, but it is now a matter of agreement between large banks and telecom operators.

"We would like all banks and all telecom operators to participate in the exchange of information on fraudsters. The Central Bank of Russia is ready to act as a 'one-stop shop' for this exchange on the part of the banking system. It remains to build a bridge to telecom operators," she said.

The Central Bank said that this bridge could be the anti-fraud platform that the government is currently creating. The idea has already been discussed at meetings and is supported by the Digital Development Ministry.

"Both banks and operators must be vitally interested in this for the exchange to be truly effective. Here I return to the topic of financial liability. We believe that both banks and telecom operators should have it, because operators are the first to see fraudsters on their networks," Nabiullina said.

"If a telecom operator has failed to filter a fraudster's call, and not just one, then it must compensate for the money. If a bank has failed to fulfill its mission, has received an alarm signal, but has not lifted a finger, then the burden of compensation falls on it. In our opinion, this division of responsibility is fair and equally motivates both banks and operators with rubles to establish a defense in their own area," Nabiullina said.