The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a public consultation on proposed guidelines to protect users of electronic payments. 

The proposed E-payments User Protection Guidelines aim to encourage wider adoption of e-payments by setting standards on the responsibilities of financial institutions—any bank, non-bank credit card issuer, finance company or holder of a widely-accepted stored value facility. The four approved widely-accepted stored value facilities are “EZ-Link Card,” “NETS CashCard,” “NETS FlashPay,” and “CapitaVoucher.”

Under the proposed guidelines, individuals and micro-enterprises, defined as “any business employing fewer than 10 persons or with annual turnover of no more than S$1 million,” who hold e-payment accounts can expect financial institutions to provide timely notifications of all e-payment transactions. Financial institutions will be expected to set clear resolution processes for unauthorised or erroneous payment transactions.

The proposed guidelines also set out the responsibilities of e-payments users, holders and users of e-payment accounts, including good security practices they should adopt to protect their passwords and e-payment accounts. “MAS hopes that these guidelines will help to make e-payments simpler and more secure and give individuals and micro-enterprises more confidence to adopt and integrate e-payments into their daily activities,” MAS Deputy Managing Director Jacqueline Loh said in a statement.

The public consultation will run from 13 February to 16 March 2018. Copies of the public consultation paper and policy highlights document are available on the MAS website. MAS invites e-payment users, financial institutions, and businesses to give feedback on the proposed guidelines.

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