BANGKOK (AP) — Banks in Thailand are now required to set a daily limit of 50,000 baht ($1,537) on many online transfers to lessen financial fraud, particularly those involving customers judged vulnerable such as children and older people.
The rule announced Tuesday by the Bank of Thailand is meant to help combat the huge criminal industry of online scams, which makes billions of dollars annually and is especially active in Southeast Asia. In many countries there is increasing pressure on banks to play a more active role in safeguarding the assets of customers targeted by scammers.
The new measure aims to curb financial fraud by preventing criminals from receiving and transferring a large amount of money at one time, and enabling timely freezing of illicit funds in order to increase the chances that victims will be able to recover at least some of their money, according to Daranee Saeju, the bank’s assistant governor for Payment Systems Policy and Financial Consumer Protection.
The daily transfer limit will be applied to transfers in three different tiers: under 50,000 baht ($1,537), under 200,000 baht ($6,147) and above 200,000 baht ($6,147), depending on each customer’s risk profile and the banks’ assessment under know-your-customer, or KYC, rules.