A recent survey by BioCatch highlights a worrying trend in Singapore’s banking sector, with 91% of fraud-management, anti-money laundering, and compliance leaders reporting an increase in fraud attempts. Additionally, 75% of respondents noted a rise in fraud losses, exceeding both the regional average of 67% and the global average of 60%.
Social engineering scams have emerged as the most prevalent threat, with over half of the surveyed leaders identifying it as a common attack. Compliance professionals particularly view social engineering as the top concern. BioCatch’s Global Advisory Director, Subhashish Bose, emphasised the importance of developing defences that can differentiate between genuine customers and those manipulated by criminals, leveraging behavioural, device, and network intelligence.
The survey also revealed that only 27% of Singaporean banks reimburse more than half of scam-related losses, significantly lower than the global average of 44%. This conservative approach is partly due to varying reimbursement regulations worldwide.
In terms of preparedness for the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s new requirements for FAST and PayNow, 95% of respondents believe their banks are mostly ready. However, only 14% of fraud professionals feel their organisations are fully prepared, highlighting a gap in implementing effective fraud risk strategies.
BioCatch, known for its behavioural biometrics solutions, commissioned the survey to better understand the challenges facing Singaporean banks. The findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced fraud prevention measures to protect both financial institutions and their customers.
