KUALA LUMPUR \u2013 Electronic wallet (e-wallet) providers must compensate scam victims fully within seven working days if they fail to implement Bank Negara Malaysia\u2019s (BNM) preventive measures, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the requirement applies even in cases where losses are partly caused by user negligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBank Negara, together with relevant agencies and the private sector, has carried out continuous public awareness programmes across various platforms,\u201d he said in a parliamentary written reply.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn efforts to combat financial scams, the public is urged to take precautionary measures to protect themselves from becoming victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, these measures reflect the government and Bank Negara\u2019s commitment to strengthening consumer protection, improving accountability among payment service providers, and enhancing public confidence in the security of digital transactions in Malaysia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Member of Parliament Roy Angau Gingkoi had asked if the government plans to strengthen protection and compensation mechanisms for scam victims involving e-wallet transactions and online payments, to enhance public confidence in the country\u2019s digital economy.<\/p>\n
Anwar said the government, through BNM, continuously monitors and strengthens the consumer protection framework in the digital payment ecosystem, including online banking transactions and e-wallet payments, in line with the rapid growth of the country\u2019s digital economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor preventive purposes, Bank Negara has imposed various regulatory requirements on banking institutions and eligible e-money issuers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese include strengthened transaction authentication methods, the implementation of a cooling-off period for high-risk transactions, device binding to a single registered device, dedicated fraud hotlines, and the introduction of a \u2018kill switch\u2019 function allowing users to immediately freeze accounts when fraud is suspected,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
On enforcement, Anwar said the establishment of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) is a multi-agency initiative to coordinate rapid responses to online financial scams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NSRC\u2019s ability to trace and freeze funds has also been enhanced through the National Fraud Portal, which automates fund-tracing processes to speed up the detection and freezing of suspicious transactions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the central bank\u2019s framework also covers cases involving shared responsibility between banks and customers, with compensation determined based on each party\u2019s level of negligence and responsibility.<\/p>\n
Under the framework, victims may also seek independent review through the Financial Market Ombudsman Service if they disagree with a bank\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
Anwar said these measures, along with enhanced security controls by financial institutions, helped prevent RM1.2 billion (S$380.7 million) in fraudulent transactions in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n
There was a 26 per cent increase in victims receiving full or partial compensation after the policy was fully implemented, he added. THE STAR\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR \u2013 Electronic wallet (e-wallet) providers must compensate scam victims fully within seven working days if they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,63,203,105],"class_list":["post-771667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}