By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz
SINGAPORE, Oct 3: Major retail banks in Singapore will implement enhanced fraud surveillance on digital transactions from Oct 15 for greater protection of customers from scams.
The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said that under the new measure, if banks detect rapid withdrawals from an account in a potential scam, the transactions can be either put on hold over a 24-hour cooling off period or be blocked altogether.
Current and savings accounts, including joint accounts, with balances of at least S$50,000 will be protected by this safeguard.
“The safeguard will kick in if a material threshold is hit – that is, when a transaction, combined with withdrawals over the past 24 hours, results in more than 50 per cent of an account’s balance being transferred out,” ABS said on Friday.
ABS said the 24-hour cooling off period provides time for victims to cancel a transaction should they come to detect the scam.
The safeguard will apply to all digital banking transactions done through bank apps and internet banking.
Non-digital banking transactions, including cash withdrawals at bank branches and ATMs, will not be affected.
Some transactions will be exempted from the safeguard to minimise disruptions to legitimate transfers, such as recurring standing instructions, recurring GIRO/eGIRO payments, and bill payments to organisations classified as billing organisations by the bank.
ABS said scams remain a concern in Singapore, even though number of cases and financial losses declined by 26 per cent and 12.6 per cent, respectively, in the first half of this year.
— BERNAMA