The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) have announced additional measures to further safeguard customers from digital banking scams. In consultation with MAS and the Singapore Police Force (SPF), banks are progressively implementing the following additional measures, which will be fully implemented by 31 October 2022:
- require additional customer confirmations to process significant changes to customer accounts and other high-risk transactions identified through fraud surveillance;
- set the default transaction limit for online funds transfers to S$5,000 or lower;
- provide an emergency self-service “kill switch” for customers to suspend their accounts quickly if they suspect their bank accounts have been compromised;
- facilitate rapid account freezing and fund recovery operations by co-locating bank staff at the SPF Anti-Scam Centre; and
- enhance fraud surveillance systems to take into account a broader range of scam scenarios.
Bank customers are strongly encouraged to use mobile banking apps, as opposed to web browsers.
Ho Hern Shin, Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision), MAS, said, “This further set of measures will strengthen customers’ ability to protect themselves against digital banking scams. MAS will continue to work with other government agencies and financial institutions to strengthen our financial system’s resilience against scams.”
