BoT comes with new guidelines against online fraud

De Bank of Thailand (BoT) has issued new guidelines to financial institutions to strengthen their preventive measures against online crime. According to BoT Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, commercial banks have been ordered to require biometric verification for mobile banking, such as facial or fingerprint scans, for customers who want to transfer more than 50.000 baht via a mobile banking application.

The increased security measures are in response to an increase in technological crimes via fake text messages, call centers and mobile applications. This scamn have caused many people to lose their savings and reduced confidence in digital banking services, potentially having a major impact on the banking system in the long run.

To address the issue, the BoT has worked with agencies such as the Thailand Banking Sector Computer Emergency Response Team, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to issue a set of standard banking measures covering all financial institutions should follow.

Under the new guidelines, it is recommended that banks do not send text messages with links to their customers. Know-your-customer verification must be more stringent and customers using mobile banking must verify their identity with biological or physical characteristics via facial recognition or fingerprint scans. Each agency should develop a system to detect suspicious transactions with a “near real-time” capability to immediately cancel such transfers.

Sethaput added that every financial institution is also required to have a round-the-clock hotline center for victims of online banking scams so that they can report their cases quickly.

Source: NBT World