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SINGAPORE: An emergency self-service “kill switch” will be introduced to help fight digital banking scams, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said on Thursday (Jun 2).
It is among the additional anti-spam measures that are being progressively implemented by banks and will be in full effect by the end of October. These measures complement those that were announced earlier on Jan 19.
The “kill-switch” will give customers a way to suspend their accounts quickly if they suspect their bank accounts have been compromised, MAS and ABS said in a media release.
A similar function has been available to OCBC Bank customers since February. It was part of the bank’s enhanced anti-scam measures after a total of S$13.7 million was lost in a spate of phishing scams involving SMSes impersonating OCBC Bank.
Other measures to be rolled out include requiring additional confirmation to process significant changes to customer accounts and other high-risk transactions, and setting the default transaction limit for online funds transfers to S$5,000 or lower.
Banks will facilitate rapid account freezing and fund recovery operations by co-locating staff at the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Anti-Scam Centre. They will also enhance their fraud surveillance systems to take into account a broader range of scam scenarios.
“To minimise the risk of navigating to fraudulent websites, bank customers are strongly encouraged to use mobile banking apps, as opposed to web browsers,” the news release said.
“Banks will continue to enhance the functionality of their banking apps, and assist customers to make the transition towards greater use of these apps.”
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