The ‘kill switch’ service is among the additional anti-scam measures that are being progressively implemented by banks and will be in full effect by the end of October 2022. These measures complement those that were announced earlier in January.
The ‘kill-switch’ will give customers a way to suspend their accounts if they suspect their bank accounts have been compromised.
The MAS and ABS discussed other measures to be rolled out as well. These 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 USD 3,639 or lower.
Banks will facilitate account freezing and fund recovery operations by co-locating staff at the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Anti-Scam Centre. They will also improve their fraud surveillance systems to consider a broader range of scam scenarios.
To ensure sustained investment in the industry’s anti-scam initiatives, a standing committee on fraud, comprising ‘the seven domestic systemically important banks’, will take forward the work of the Anti-Scam Taskforce established in 2020. The seven banks comprise DBS Bank, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank, and HSBC.
The committee will report directly to the ABS council and drive the industry’s anti-scam efforts. The industry's anti-scam work will also be formalised into five key workstreams: customer education, authentication, fraud surveillance, customer handling and recovery, and equitable loss sharing.
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