New 24-hour cooling period for digital transactions at major banks

Safeguard will kick in when an account is being quickly emptied due to a potential scam

- Sheila Chiang Business Correspondent

Major retail banks in Singapore will put in place new safeguards on all digital transactions from Oct 15 to further protect customers from scams.

Customers of DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, UOB, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank and Standard Chartered should expect more of their transactions to be held for 24 hours, or rejected immediately, The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said on Oct 3.

Current and savings accounts, including joint accounts, with balances of a minimum of $50,000, will be protected by this safeguard, which kicks in when banks detect that an account is being quickly emptied of its funds due to a potential scam.

The safeguard will apply to all digital banking transactions via bank apps and internet banking. Non-digital banking transactions, including cash withdrawals at bank branches and ATMs, will not be affected.

When a transaction, together with withdrawals over the past 24 hours, results in more than 50 per cent of an account’s balance to be transferred out, the safeguard will kick in.