SINGAPORE: More than S$5.4 billion (US$4 billion) of savings have been set aside in over 61,000 bank accounts with a “money lock” feature as of February, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan on Thursday (Feb 29).
Introduced by the local banks in November last year as a safeguard against scams, “money lock” allows customers to set aside funds that cannot be transferred digitally.
Customers can lock up their money using the bank’s app or internet banking, but these funds can only be unlocked in person at bank branches or via ATMs.
Speaking in parliament, Mr Tan said other major retail banks in Singapore will roll out this new feature by the middle of this year.
Since the launch, local banks have been making tweaks to their “money lock” offerings.
Last week, DBS said it would extend its version called the digiVault to all accounts, allowing customers to “lock up” funds in their existing accounts. This means that customers no longer have to open a separate account to use the bank’s money-locking feature.
OCBC already allows customers to lock funds without opening a new bank account since last November.
Currently out of the three local banks, only UOB requires customers to set up new “money lock” accounts, but the bank told CNA that it is exploring extending features of its LockAway account to existing bank accounts.
Mr Tan, who is a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said banks will continue to make it easier for customers to use “money lock” by taking into consideration customer feedback and the collective implementation experience across the industry.
He added that there have been no reports of phishing or malware scams involving funds under “money lock” to date.
“MAS will work with the banks to continue to encourage customers to adopt ‘money lock’ and also to monitor the effectiveness of ‘money lock’,” he said.
But he noted that most scams still involve authorised transactions, or individuals transferring their money willingly to scammers.
“The defence against such scams is for everyone to be vigilant and skeptical of anyone asking for money to be transferred to them, whether for a relationship, for a job, or for an investment,” Mr Tan told the House.
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Introduced by the local banks in November last year as a safeguard against scams, “money lock” allows customers to set aside funds that cannot be transferred digitally.
Customers can lock up their money using the bank’s app or internet banking, but these funds can only be unlocked in person at bank branches or via ATMs.
Speaking in parliament, Mr Tan said other major retail banks in Singapore will roll out this new feature by the middle of this year.
Since the launch, local banks have been making tweaks to their “money lock” offerings.
Last week, DBS said it would extend its version called the digiVault to all accounts, allowing customers to “lock up” funds in their existing accounts. This means that customers no longer have to open a separate account to use the bank’s money-locking feature.
OCBC already allows customers to lock funds without opening a new bank account since last November.
Currently out of the three local banks, only UOB requires customers to set up new “money lock” accounts, but the bank told CNA that it is exploring extending features of its LockAway account to existing bank accounts.
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Mr Tan, who is a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said banks will continue to make it easier for customers to use “money lock” by taking into consideration customer feedback and the collective implementation experience across the industry.
He added that there have been no reports of phishing or malware scams involving funds under “money lock” to date.
“MAS will work with the banks to continue to encourage customers to adopt ‘money lock’ and also to monitor the effectiveness of ‘money lock’,” he said.
But he noted that most scams still involve authorised transactions, or individuals transferring their money willingly to scammers.
“The defence against such scams is for everyone to be vigilant and skeptical of anyone asking for money to be transferred to them, whether for a relationship, for a job, or for an investment,” Mr Tan told the House.
Continue reading...