BSP issues new rules on anti-scam law

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects financial scams in the country to decline following the release of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.

On Wednesday, the BSP announced three new circulars directed at banks and other financial institutions. These include the mandatory adoption of supplementary systems to one-time passwords (OTPs), the temporary holding of funds suspected to be involved in scams, and the BSP’s authority to swiftly order the opening of accounts linked to fraudulent activity.

Financial institutions have one year to upgrade and activate their systems. However, BSP Deputy Director for Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Maricris Salud said some institutions may be given leeway depending on the nature of their business and operational conditions.

"The bigger banks are already on track; they can just re-engineer their systems. But for more sophisticated ones, banks said those are costlier," she said.

BSP Managing Director for Financial Inclusion and Consumer Empowerment Sub-Sector Charina De Vera-Yap revealed that the central bank received 70,000 consumer complaints last year — up from 43,000 in 2023. Of those, 13 percent were related to unauthorized transactions.

Yap also said that 41 percent of complaints were resolved in favor of the complainants.

With the issuance of the new circulars, BSP Director for Consumer Complaints Resolution Janice Ayson-Zales said the number of successful scams is expected to decrease.

“In case there are behavioral anomalies, the bank will stop the transaction,” she explained.

Under Circular No. 1215, banks must temporarily hold disputed funds for up to 30 days while investigations are ongoing.

Circular No. 1214 allows the BSP to share financial data with relevant entities when strong evidence of fraudulent activity exists, providing exemptions from bank secrecy and data privacy laws.

"Only the Court of Appeals can enjoin BSP from exercising its authority. Obstruction of BSP’s investigation or inquiry is a criminal act," BSP said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Circular No. 1213 mandates the use of enhanced security measures, such as geolocation monitoring and additional protections beyond OTPs.

"For example, with the enhanced fraud management system, the transactions being done by the scammer in Europe from a transaction in Manila will be stopped by the bank. With the temporary holding, the bank will put the amount on hold so the amount will not go to other accounts," Zales said.