BANGKOK, March 13 (Bernama): Biometric identity verification is among the new measures and guidelines issued by the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to combat financial fraud and scams in Thailand.

In a statement, BoT Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said the new measures are vital to protect customers’ savings following an increase in the country's financial frauds and scams - where the modus operandi and tactics used continue to evolve from time to time.

"To ensure the banking and payment channels remain safe and secure, BoT urged all financial institutions to implement additional security measures as soon as possible to protect customers’ savings.

"Banking frauds and scams have caused customers to suffer heavy losses and affected their confidence in digital banking.

"Therefore, commercial banks should regularly update their mobile banking security system to combat financial fraud,” he said in a statement.

For biometric identity verification, Sethaput said it will be required when a customer wants to make an online transfer of more than 50,000 baht or to increase their daily transfer limit to more than 50,000 baht.

"Commercial banks will also revise daily banking transfer limits of different groups of customers to reduce the risk,” he said.

Besides that, Sethaput said bank customers would be restricted to only one mobile banking username to one device and they must be notified for every transaction.

"All commercial banks will provide convenient ways, including a 24-hour hotline for customers, to report financial scam incidents if they suspect that they are a victim of a scam,” he said.

Sethaput said banks are required to report suspicious transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Office to temporarily suspend the account upon detection.

He added banks should limit sending SMSs with URLs requesting personal information such as passwords and ID card numbers to customers.Meanwhile, members of the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) have agreed to comply with BoT’s new measure

"Commercial bank members have been upgrading their digital technology to combat financial frauds,” it said. - Bernama