Banks are the institutions of great importance in any society as they help to keep the wheel of the economy moving. They get surplus funds from economic units and provide the essential aid to deficit economic units to enhance investment. As a result of this investment employment is generated. Increase in the production of goods and services leads to higher income and higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which represent prosperity of a nation. Banks, in Pakistan, are not comfortable in their operations as the number of heists has increased. In 2009 fourteen heists took place throughout the country. The number increased to 21 in 2010 and remained the same in 2011 as well. The total amount robbed was 84 million. Out of the 21 heists nine took place in Karachi-the financial hub of the country. Five took place in the twin cities- Islamabad (capital) and Rawalpindi. Four took place in Lahore and the remaining three in other cities. The law enforcement agencies are not vigilant, and the private security guards that are hired are not well trained or well equipped to stop these robberies. In some cases the guards were involved in the robberies due to low compensation provided to the security personnel by the security companies. The security companies are not concerned with the heists as they are not responsible for the loss to the bank. It is the insurance companies who ultimately suffer the loss. Another reason for their lack of interest is that they are owned by highly influential people who do not consider themselves answerable. Another reason is that the banks are not taking any advantage of the modern technology. The incidents have revealed that in many of the events the security alarms did not work and if they worked the response from security agencies was too late to prevent the robbery. On the other hand, CCTV cameras either did not work or they were taken away by the robbers. As none of the stakeholders is seriously interested in curbing theses crimes there is an increase in them. Some of the investigations have revealed that the amount robbed is being used by banned organizations and terrorist groups to buy more weapons which ultimately fuel the terrorist activities in the country. In order to overcome the issue and provide security to the bank customers everyone should play their role effectively. They should make collective efforts which will help in gaining the investors’ confidence and hence more economic activities. Some of the suggestions which may prove helpful in preventing bank heists are given below.The police should take responsibility and assure the safety particularly of banks and the society as a whole. There should be a hotline on which banks may contact Rescue 15, 1122 and Elite Force in case of an emergency, which must respond immediately.The State Bank should take severe action against the banks whose security arrangements are not sufficient. It should rank the banks according to security and operational risk management and fine them if their security is below standard. This ranking should be published. In this way the management of the banks will ensure security.The guards must undergo thorough security checks, as some of them belong to criminal backgrounds and also tend to act in unlawful ways. Management of the bank must also select the security agency carefully. Last but not least, security companies and banks should make sure that all the CCTV cameras and alarms are in working order. MUHAMMAD UMAR, Lahore, September 28.