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Singapore’s banks are stepping up their defences against scammers, rolling out a host of measures, including an emergency self-service kill switch for customers to suspend their accounts.

In January, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) outlined a series of moves designed to tackle a spate of SMS phishing scams targeting people on the island.

Now, the MAS and ABS, in consultation with police, have put together additional measures, which banks will roll out by the end of October.

These include requiring additional customer confirmations to process significant changes to accounts and other high-risk transactions; a default transaction limit for online fund transfers to S$5000; the kill switch; and co-locating bank staff at the police anti-scam centre. Banks are also encouraging customers to use their apps rather than web browsers.

The January measures included the removal of clickable links in emails and text messages sent to retail customers.

The MAS says: “While the enhanced anti-scam measures put in place by banks may lengthen the time taken for customers to complete certain online banking transactions, this is necessary to achieve a greater level of security and protection for their funds.”

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