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Singapore will finalise and implement a planned Shared Responsibility Framework (SRF) to combat phishing scams by the end of the year, a minister has confirmed.

The SRF was proposed in October last year by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the country’s media regulator, as part of a consultation into authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Under the proposed framework, financial institutions and telecommunications firms will be expected to undertake duties to mitigate phishing scams, while payouts to affected scam victims will be required where these duties are breached. 

The government will take into account feedback received in the consultation, which closed on December 20, 2023, and “aim to publish our response to the consultation and implement the SRF later this year”, Alvin Tan, minister of state for trade and industry,  in a written response published on April 2 to a question from lawmaker Desmond Choo, from the ruling People’s Action Party.

Choo also asked about Money Lock, a feature created by the country’s three major local banks — DBS, OCBC and UOB — in November 2023 that allows customers to lock up a specified portion of their funds. Once this has happened, the only way to withdraw the funds is to do so in person at a branch or an ATM, depending on the bank.

Choo wanted to know about the take-up rate for the feature among bank customers in different age brackets, and whether the MAS will make it mandatory for all banking institutions to participate in this initiative in the near future.

Tan said that since the three local banks rolled out the Money Lock in November, more than 78,000 Money Lock accounts have been set up, with more than $6.6bn of savings set aside in March 2024. 

Among customers who have used Money Lock, those aged 50 and above make up 44 percent, those between 30 and 50 years old comprise 41 percent, and those under 30 years of age form 15 percent. 

“Local banks will continue to raise awareness and encourage adoption amongst their customer base across all demographic segments,” he said. 

Tan added that other major retail banks will introduce Money Lock by mid-2024. “The  vast majority of retail depositors will have the Money Lock option. Therefore, MAS has no plans to make Money Lock mandatory for all banking institutions."