Govt orders all bank computer servers to be housed in country

Deputy Minister for finance, Adam Malima

All banks, both local and foreign, are to have their computer servers physically present in the country the government has ordered.

 

The development comes as part of ongoing government efforts to check movement of financial transactions and control cybercrime.

 

Giving the order yesterday in the House when winding up the proposed National Payment Systems Bill 2015 that was tabled on Monday, Deputy Minister for finance Adam Malima, said the decision is meant to allow the government access to the banks financial transactions.

 

Malima explained that, some banks have their serves located abroad which makes it difficult to access their database.He also reassured the House that so far, all banks have responded positively to the directive with only two requesting for a time extension to comply.

 

He pointed out that the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Ministry of Finance are responsible to oversee the compliance and subsequent review and monitoring of the transactions.

 

On her part, Minister for Finance Saada Mkuya Salum said the government has already prepared regulations on the National Payments Systems bill which was passed on Monday.

 

She said the use of e-banking and other computer based transactions has increased and as a result, there is also an increase in cases of cybercrime.

 

“Cybercrime cases were previously hard to investigate and prosecute because there was no national legislation to address them,” she explained.

Commenting, Ilala Legislator Musa Zungu expressed concern over worsening cases of electronic theft targeting commercial banks and mobile phone companies.

 

“We have noted with great concern the overwhelming electronic theft cases affecting commercial banks and phone companies, the government should increase related fines to deter the criminals,” he advised citing that banks are losing millions of shillings in ATM card skimming and their customers are worried over the fate of their deposits.

 

Zungu also urged the government to come with alternative solution in case the use of electronic payment systems by mobile phone companies and banks should collapse.

 

“We have to make sure that an alternative solution is in place in case the electronic payment systems collapse or are invaded by hackers,” he urged. 

 

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), cyber crime is increasingly becoming a threat as terrorist cells use it to raise funds.

 

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP Global Economic Crime survey released last year, said cyber crime is the second most commonly reported economic crime affecting financial services firms today.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN