Bank Negara Malaysia has implemented 5 measures to improve online banking security.
People are now afraid to deposit large sums of money in bank accounts after a severe case of bank deposit theft recently occurred in Malaysia. The BNM has come under pressure from the general public and other organisations to step in when bank savings are stolen.
A letter from Bank Negara states that the bank has implemented 5 measures to increase the security of internet banking. According to the National Bank’s guidelines, domestic commercial banks must improve their security measures.
Bank Negara’s initial initiative is to mandate that banks switch from SMS OTP to a more secure method of authentication.
The so-called more secure method of authentication entails authenticating transactions using mobile APPs, including Secure2u, which Maybank and Hong Leong Bank both released, and AppAuthorise.
Additionally, banks must tighten the regulations that govern fraud detection and transaction blocking. When a user’s account experiences an unexpected transaction, the banking system will quickly halt the transaction and get in touch with the user.
Additionally, users must wait at least 12 hours before activating a new device, signing up for online banking for the first time, and binding a bank account. This is done so that when users discover that their accounts have been unexpectedly logged into, they have enough time to stop transactions.
Additionally, Bank Negara mandates that financial institutions make sure each user can only enable the authentication service on one device. Users of Hong Leong Bank, for instance, are only permitted to enable AppAuthorise on a single device. They must first enable AppAuthorise if they want to use AppAuthorise on a new device. Release the initial gadget.
Additionally, Bank Negara exhorts banks to establish a special hotline for handling fraud. Users can call the hotline right away for assistance if they come across a fraud instance.
Five initiatives are being implemented by Bank Negara to improve online banking security.
1. Using a more secure method of authentication in replacement of SMS OTP.
2. Tighten up the regulations for detecting fraud and stopping fraudulent transactions.
3. A “cooling-off period” is enforced when registering for online banking services for the first time or logging in to a new device.
4. Each user is only permitted to verify online banking transactions using one device.
5. Banks must establish a special hotline for handling fraud.
