To prevent fraud, the state is planning changes that would slow down large bank transfers and ATM cash withdrawals to give banks time to verify the transaction.
Every year, people and institutions in Estonia lose millions of euros to scammers. The state is looking for ways to curb the epidemic, though the measures will inevitably come at the expense of convenience. One planned change that could take effect later this year is delaying unusually large money transfers so banks have time to verify the legitimacy of the transaction.
“For example, there could be situations where someone travels abroad to buy a car and wants to make the payment on the spot via instant transfer. They would need to take into account that the transfer might not go through within 10 seconds,” said Heigo Tark, head of fraud prevention at SEB.
How long the delay would last would be up to each bank. A similar delay is also being planned for unusually large cash withdrawals from ATMs.
“We can again use the car example. If you are abroad, want to buy the car, see that the instant payment is pending and then decide to buy the car with cash instead, a delay could likely occur there as well,” Tark said.
New measures are also being planned to improve people’s attentiveness, as victims often fall under scammers’ influence during particularly stressful or rushed moments. In the future, for example, users will no longer be able to enter Smart-ID PIN codes while a phone call is ongoing.
“This means you would have to end the call, take a moment to breathe and only then confirm the transaction. That creates the necessary pause for reflection to realize that it may be a scam or attempted fraud,” said Egert Belitsev, director general of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA).
Until the end of the year, major banks have also promised to adopt the more secure Smart-ID+ solution. In light of the growing fraud threat, banks are also advising customers to review both personal and corporate account limits. According to an analysis by LHV, 80% of customers have limits higher than they actually need. (ERR)