Tracking unusual activity in real time

Apart from these industry-wide safeguards, the digital banks leverage technology to monitor unusual activity in real time. Customer support is also available 24/7.

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This enables them to step in promptly when their systems turn up suspicious behaviour.

For example, MariBank’s systems will trigger a popup alert to warn and educate the user before the transaction is finalised.

Mr Shahzaib Hassan, group chief technology and product officer at GXS Bank, said the digital bank has safeguards, such as alerts and questions, to prompt customers to pause and reflect before they complete a transaction that the bank deems suspicious.

These questions include: Do you know the recipient? This person claims he is from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Is he who he claims he is?

Other anti-scam features include money lock, which freezes a portion of customers’ money so they cannot transfer it out.

Prof Ondrus said the digital banks operate on modern systems without outdated technology, enabling them to adapt swiftly and implement new scam-detection tools.

A spokesperson for MariBank said the digital bank’s ability to respond rapidly to evolving scam tactics is due to its modern technological infrastructure, which supports agile deployment of countermeasures.

In the fight against scams, experts say financial institutions will have to strike a fine balance between convenience and safety.