The Association of Banks in Singapore (“ABS“) has announced that Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) – i.e. DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank, and Standard Chartered – will implement enhanced fraud surveillance on all digital transactions from 15 October 2025 to better safeguard customers against scams. When banks detect that an account is being quickly depleted of funds due to a potential scam, some transactions may be held for a 24-hour cooling period before processing, or rejected immediately. As banks enhance their checks to protect customers during the cooling period, customers may experience slower processing times for digital payments and transfers, including legitimate transactions.
Scope of Safeguard
Current and savings accounts, including joint accounts, with balances of at least S$50,000 will be protected by this safeguard (“Account“). The safeguard will apply to all digital banking transactions done through bank apps and internet banking.
Operation of Safeguard
The safeguard will be activated if a transaction, combined with withdrawals over the past 24 hours, results in more than 50% of an Account’s balance being transferred out. The transaction that triggers this threshold, and all subsequent transactions out of the Account, will either be held for 24 hours or rejected.
Customer Action
When transactions are held or rejected, customers will be notified immediately through their mobile banking app or internet banking platform, with instructions on what actions to take next.
If a 24-hour cooling period is imposed, a customer need not take any action if the transactions are legitimate. Funds will be automatically released after the cooling period. If the customer realises that he/she has been scammed, he/she has the opportunity to cancel the transaction. In exceptional circumstances where customers urgently need transactions to be processed during the 24-hour cooling period, they will need to verify their transactions with the bank.
In the event that a legitimate transaction is declined, customers can re-initiate the transaction upon subsequent verification with the bank.
With the introduction of the enhanced fraud surveillance, customers are encouraged to schedule time-sensitive banking transactions (e.g. for share purchases) ahead of time to avoid incurring fees or charges that may result due to delays.
Digital Banking Transactions Exempted from Safeguards
There are digital banking transactions that are exempted from the safeguards to minimise disruptions to legitimate transactions. These include the following:
- recurring standing instructions;
- recurring GIRO/eGIRO payments; and
- bill payments to organisations classified as billing organisations by banks.
The enhanced fraud surveillance complements banks’ existing anti-fraud measures, including the fraud surveillance duty earlier implemented as part of the Guidelines on the Shared Responsibility Framework (“SRF“) for phishing scams. For more information on the SRF Guidelines, please refer to our November 2024 Legal Update titled “MAS and IMDA Set Out Duties and Liability of Financial Institutions and Telcos in Mitigating Digital Scams“. In addition to cases where an account is rapidly drained due to a potential scam, banks also use various fraud detection parameters and may suspend or decline transactions based on other risk factors.
Click on the following links for more information (available on the ABS website at abs.org.sg):
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