BDO Unibank said on Friday that it received reports of "potentially compromised" automated teller machines (ATMs) after receiving complaints from cardholders that they lost money from their accounts.

But BDO, the largest bank in the Philippines in terms of assets, assured the public that "there is no cause for alarm."

In a phone interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, a BDO official, who refused to be named, explained that the reports they received recently from cardholders regarding losses on their accounts were minimal. The official said the issue just "escalated" because of the social media.

“BDO reassures the public that there is no cause for alarm. ATMs are compromised every now and then, with skimming being the most common form," the bank said.

“To protect our customers, we (banks) take the precautionary measure of proactively disabling the cards if we have reason to believe they may have been compromised,” it added.

BDO assured that customers with unauthorized transactions "may be reimbursed" after proper investigation.

The issue involving BDO came after the Bank of the Philippine Islands encountered "system glitch" from transactions between April 27 and May 2, causing double debit or credit in some of its clients' accounts last week. Alanna Ambi/DMS