Free Newsletter
Get the hottest Fintech Singapore News once a month in your Inbox
DBS will introduce a 12-hour cooling period for selected high-risk banking activities from 7 March, as part of its latest measures to curb scams.
The Straits Times reported that customers were notified via e-mail that digital banking users will no longer be able to instantly add a new transfer recipient, raise daily transfer limits for local or overseas transactions, or update contact details.
Instead, these changes will only take effect after a 12-hour delay.
The bank said the safeguard is intended to give customers time to detect and stop unauthorised activity.
If a new payee is added or transfer limits are raised, transactions under the revised settings will only proceed once the cooling period has lapsed.
Alerts will be sent to customers’ registered contact details during this window, allowing them to review and report suspicious requests.
DBS has introduced several anti-scam measures over the past year.
Customers must activate a toggle within the banking app before adding cards to mobile wallets, with the setting automatically switching off after 10 minutes.
In June 2025, the bank rolled out real-time fraud surveillance for accounts with at least S$50,000, blocking or placing a 24-hour hold on transactions exceeding half of the account balance.
Scam losses remain substantial. Police data released in August 2025 showed nearly S$500 million lost in the first half of the year, with close to 20,000 cases reported.
Phishing scams were the most common, accounting for 3,779 cases and S$30.4 million in losses, more than double the S$13 million recorded in the same period in 2024.
Many cases involved unauthorised card transactions after victims disclosed their card details and authentication codes to scammers.
Banks are already required under the Shared Responsibility Framework, introduced in 2024, to enforce a 12-hour cooling period for digital token activation.
The framework also mandates real-time alerts for higher-risk activities, including changes to account details, increased limits and new payees, as well as logins to e-wallets on new devices.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore/Malaysia, based on image by DBS
