MAS Speech Regulatory Framework

Update to E-Payments User Protection Guidelines

MASSingapore, 25 April 2019… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has updated the E-Payments User Protection Guidelines (“Guidelines”) to clarify that the Guidelines do not override customers’ instructions to their financial institutions on transaction notification thresholds for e-payments.

Under the Guidelines, financial institutions, such as banks, are expected to provide notifications to their customers for all e-payment transactions. These notifications allow customers to monitor e-payment transactions, and report unauthorised transactions promptly to their financial institutions. The Guidelines did not address situations where a customer chooses to receive fewer notifications of transactions that are above specified thresholds and of certain payment types.

In response to customer feedback, MAS has updated the Guidelines to clarify that customers can continue to set their preferred transaction notifications even after the Guidelines take effect on 30 June 2019.  As these preferred notification settings result in fewer notifications sent to the customer, there may be implications on his ability to monitor for unauthorised transactions and his liability for such transactions. In such cases, MAS expects financial institutions to inform their customers of these liability implications.

For more information about the Guidelines, please refer to this link.