The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reviewing new anti-scam safeguards introduced by banks to ensure they protect customers without unnecessarily slowing legitimate transactions.

The question, raised by Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim, asked whether MAS would ease safeguards in “whitelist” situations, such as transfers to a customer’s own account or to government agencies.

In a written reply, Deputy Prime Minister and MAS Chairman Gan Kim Yong said the regulator has worked with banks to implement stronger protections, particularly for accounts with balances of at least S$50,000 that are being rapidly emptied.

Under the measure, banks will delay further transfers to give customers time to confirm if the transactions are genuine.

Gan noted that some transactions are whitelisted and exempt from these delays.

These include recurring standing instructions, GIRO or eGIRO payments, and bill payments to organisations such as government agencies that are recognised as billing entities by banks.

However, banks currently cannot determine whether the recipient account at another bank belongs to the same customer.

He added that MAS and banks will continue to monitor and refine these measures to reduce disruptions while maintaining strong protection against scams.

Other initiatives already introduced include the MoneyLock feature and the gradual phasing out of SMS one-time passwords.

Gan said some inconvenience in payment transactions is necessary to safeguard consumers, and advised customers to plan ahead for large-value transfers.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by tsyhun via Freepik