BSP Appeals Fls to Enhance Control Measures Against Cyber Fraud

The BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) is again calling on financial institutions to adopt robust control measures against cyber fraud and attacks on retail electronic payments and financial services.

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In a March memorandum, the BSP had directed financial institutions to "regularly conduct risk assessments of their product features, business rules, as well as application controls, and enforce appropriate enhancements and mitigation measures."

Financial institutions were also advised to remove clickable links in communications sent to customers via email and text messages, and to send notifications through registered mobile numbers or email addresses when requesting changes to customer information.

After thorough risk analysis, financial institutions should implement mandatory notifications for fund transfers exceeding a predefined amount, delays in activating new soft tokens or new device registrations, and a cooling-off period for key account changes.

Financial institutions must also personalize SMS messages and emails for banking services; restrict bank officers or representatives from obtaining critical information such as customer passwords, OTPs and PINs; create dedicated customer assistance teams for fraud cases; conduct education campaigns against online scams; and adopt strong fraud surveillance mechanisms.

In a new notice, the BSP said financial institutions are additionally encouraged to collaborate with each other and use information sharing platforms such as the BAP's (Bankers Association of the Philippines) Cyber Incident Database to expedite fraud investigations and recovery of funds, and proactively address emerging fraud schemes.

They should also coordinate with law enforcement authorities for the prompt resolution of cyber crimes, especially those involving public safety and security, the BSP said.

The BSP has also vowed to intensify monitoring and surveillance of the financial industry amid various global and local risks to ensure supervised institutions "remain responsive to emerging risks".