Union Bank Of India Asked To Bolster Cybersecurity As DFS Flags India-Pakistan Border Tensions

The Department of Financial Services has asked Union Bank of India to strengthen its cybersecurity systems and ensure sufficient cash availability in branches and ATMs near the border, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer A Manimekhalia said on Friday.

The bank is taking additional cybersecurity precautions and has instructed its branches in border states to remain on high alert, she said. The advisory follows a rise in tensions between India and Pakistan after a series of cross-border strikes and retaliatory attacks.

India intercepted multiple drones and missiles launched from Pakistan on Thursday night, targeting military sites in Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur and Amritsar. This escalation followed Operation Sindoor, in which Indian armed forces neutralised terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday.

Manimekhalia said the bank had conducted awareness programmes to train staff and customers in cyber preparedness and resilience, aligning with the guidance from the financial services department.

The advisory comes ahead of a cybersecurity review meeting to be chaired by the Union Finance Minister later on Friday evening. The government is reviewing cybersecurity measures across banks and financial institutions amid rising regional tensions, which intensified after an attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir last month.

Manimekhalia, speaking at the bank’s March quarter earnings conference, declined to provide forward guidance on loan or deposit growth or margins, citing market volatility and the geopolitical situation.

She said net interest margins are likely to remain under pressure due to expected easing of interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India. Its NIM was at 2.87% for the quarter ended March from 2.91% a quarter ago.

The bank is also facing challenges in pricing corporate loans, and this trend is expected to persist through FY26.

Union Bank has sanctioned over Rs 60,000 crore worth of loans that are yet to be disbursed and has already disbursed around Rs 23,000 crore.

For the quarter ended March, corporate loans of the bank stood at Rs 3.22 lakh crore as against Rs 2.96 lakh crore a year ago.

The bank declined to comment on reports of a Rs 7.25 crore purchase of nearly 2 lakh copies of “India@100,” a book by Krishnamurthy Subramanian.