10.2 Bank and Financial Premises Security

Quick Answer: Banks and exchange houses are high-threat sites. A guard there controls access to the different zones, watches for hostile surveillance and fraud, and follows strict opening and closing routines. In a robbery, the rule is life first: do not resist, comply, observe and remember descriptions, raise the alarm only when it is safe, and protect the scene and witnesses for the police on 999. Bank security is its own licence category under Ministerial Decision No. 557 of 2008.

Bank security in the regulations

• Banks security is one of the security categories for which a company needs its own licence (Article 17). The published fee schedule lists AED 10,000 for issuing or renewing a banks security licence.
• Private banks security guard is a separate individual licence category (Article 90). A guard needs at least one year as a general guard before applying for it (Article 98).
• The order's definition of a security zone expressly includes police departments, the Central Bank and other banks (Article 1). It is in security zones that CIT crews may take breaks with an empty vehicle and that CIT vehicles may be inspected.
• NSI's Bank Security Course, for holders of a BSG or SOL3 certificate and a valid licence, covers bank security zones, bank security systems, the guard's roles, threats and bank-specific crimes, crime scene preservation and evidence handling, emergencies, access control and crowd management, and customer service.

How a bank branch is zoned

The guard knows which doors must stay closed and which staff may enter each zone. They challenge anyone who tries to go further than they are entitled to.

Daily routine

Opening. Banks normally open as a team, never with one person alone:

1. Arrive at the agreed time and observe the building from a distance first, checking for forced doors, broken glass, unfamiliar vehicles or people waiting.
2. If anything looks wrong, do not enter. Inform the branch manager and call the police.
3. Once the area is clear, staff enter under the bank's procedure, check the premises and give the all-clear signal agreed in the bank's procedure before others enter.

During the day.

• Greet every customer. A friendly, alert greeting deters criminals, who prefer to stay anonymous.
• Keep the entrance clear and manage queues.
• Watch the ATM area for devices attached to card slots or keypads and for people "helping" customers.
• Keep CIT delivery areas clear when crews arrive (Section 10.1).

Closing. Check that no one remains in toilets, meeting rooms or hidden areas. Confirm that doors, vaults and alarm settings are secured according to the checklist. Never discuss closing routines with outsiders.

Recognising hostile surveillance and bank crime

Criminals usually watch a bank before attacking it. Report, without confronting, people who:

• loiter in the banking hall without doing business, or come back repeatedly;
• watch the teller line, the cash room door or CIT deliveries;
• photograph or film entrances, cameras or staff;
• ask staff about opening times, cash deliveries or the alarm system;
• wear helmets, hoods or sunglasses that hide the face, contrary to the site's rules.

Other bank-specific crimes include fraud (forged cheques, stolen identity documents), skimming devices on ATMs, distraction theft of customers' cash, and threatening behaviour by people refused service.

During a robbery

1. Do not resist and do not try to be a hero. Follow the robber's instructions calmly. Guards are unarmed (Article 105), and no amount of money is worth a life.
2. Activate the hold-up alarm only when it is safe, without being seen.
3. Observe: number of robbers, the A–H description (Section 7.2), weapons, words used, what they touched, the vehicle and direction of escape.
4. Do not chase the robbers.
5. Once they have gone, call 999, lock the doors to keep evidence in and others out, and give first aid if needed.
6. Preserve the scene. Do not touch counters, notes or objects the robbers handled.
7. Separate the witnesses and ask them to wait for the police without discussing what they saw. Ask each to write down their own account.
8. Do not speak to the media. Refer all questions to the bank and the police.

CCTV and records in the financial sector

The Central Bank's security standards for licensed exchange houses show the level of control expected:

• the premises are under CCTV monitoring at all times, meeting the requirements of the police or competent authority of the emirate;
• recordings from the preceding 90 calendar days are available at minimum, or longer if the authorities require it;
• cameras cover entrances and exits, customer areas, cashier and cash-counting areas, and the safe or vault;
• a notice saying the premises are under continuous CCTV monitoring is displayed;
• the system is checked daily before opening and at closing to confirm it is recording, and the checks are logged in a separate register;
• the system is under an annual maintenance contract.

Banks apply their own requirements. A guard should never adjust, switch off or copy recordings, and should report any camera fault at once.

Section summary checklist

• Banks security: a separate company licence (Article 17) and a separate guard licence (Article 90). Banks are "security zones" (Article 1).
• Zone control: public, semi-restricted and restricted areas, with dual control for cash.
• Open as a team: observe first, and do not enter if something is wrong.
• Robbery: comply, alarm when safe, observe, do not chase, call 999, preserve the scene, separate the witnesses.
• Exchange-house standard: 90 days of CCTV, with daily recording checks logged.