SINGAPORE: OCBC Bank customers will be capable to instantly freeze all their bank accounts in case of an emergency, reminiscent of after they suspect they’ve been scammed, by way of a new “kill switch” characteristic the bank rolled out on Wednesday (Feb 16).
This is the primary time the bank’s customers can have entry to such a characteristic. Previously, account freezing may very well be performed solely by bank employees when customers referred to as in.
Customers can activate the “kill switch” characteristic by calling the bank’s official quantity on 1800-363-3333 and selecting the choice “8”.
This operate is now out there at about 500 OCBC ATMs too. By March, customers can freeze their accounts in any respect 534 OCBC ATMs right here.
On Tuesday in Parliament, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) deputy chairman Lawrence Wong touched on how the same new characteristic is being studied by the Government.
Wong, who’s Finance Minister, additionally introduced the Government’s multi-pronged method to combating scams, in response to 39 parliamentary questions on the topic.
The topic has been in the highlight after 790 OCBC customers lost S$13.7mil (RM42.66mil) from last December to January this year to SMS phishing, which Wong stated was “by far the most serious phishing scam we have seen involving spoofed SMSes impersonating banks”.
Some affected OCBC customers had complained that it took a very long time to get by way of OCBC’s hotline. By the time the bank was in a position to take motion, scammers had siphoned a lot of their funds.
Last month, the bank acknowledged that its customer support and response fell in need of customers’ expectations.
On Wednesday, OCBC stated the new kill change characteristic applies to all present and financial savings accounts, together with joint accounts, ATM entry, debit and bank cards, and digital banking, together with OCBC Pay Anyone app entry.
After this change is activated, no transactions – whether or not performed digitally, by way of an ATM or at bank branches – can be made. Recurring or pre-arranged fund transfers will probably be disabled as nicely.
This means money withdrawals and deposits, reminiscent of crediting of salaries, can’t be performed when the kill change is on.
Other transactions that will probably be disabled embrace incoming and outgoing native and abroad fund transfers, invoice funds, incoming and outgoing Giro transactions, and Nets transactions.
Customers who suspect they’ve fallen prey to scams or imagine particulars associated to their bank accounts have been compromised can activate this kill change.
After the kill change is turned on, the shopper will probably be contacted by the bank to confirm that he has activated it and, amongst different issues, reset passwords, cancel any stolen bank cards, or delete unfamiliar fund switch payees just lately added.
The kill change can be deactivated, however solely by a bank employees, and after verified directions from the shopper have been acquired.
Upon deactivation, all earlier authorised settings on the account will probably be restored. This contains Giro preparations and post-dated fund transfers.
The whole means of reinstating a buyer’s account might take 10 minutes to over an hour, relying on the complexity of every case.
Kill switches are a part of banks’ current infrastructure. In OCBC’s case, the system was tweaked to offer customers entry.
OCBC reiterated that its customers can additionally get devoted assist for suspected fraud by calling OCBC’s official quantity on 1800-363-3333 and deciding on the choice “9”. This “fraud hotline” has been out there since Jan 18.
Trained bank employees on the road can assist customers freeze all their bank accounts, information them on making a police report, and observe up on their banking actions after the fraud.
Previously, OCBC stated a devoted group had been set as much as assist its customers who have been focused by the latest SMS phishing scams. The fraud hotline is an extension of this.
OCBC stated its kill change and fraud hotline are in addition to new anti-scam measures that MAS and the Association of Banks in Singapore required banks to roll out by early February. The measures included eradicating clickable hyperlinks in SMSes or e-mails despatched to retail customers.
OCBC additionally urged customers to make use of the devoted fraud hotline to report solely fraud or scams, “so that customers who need to urgently report scams and fraudulent transactions can receive attention as quickly as possible”.
The bank stated that because the hotline was launched on Jan 18, greater than 70% of calls made by way of it have been requests for price waivers, account steadiness inquiries and different non-scam issues.
“Only about 30% of the calls made have been about genuine fraud and scam matters,” stated OCBC. – The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network
