75% of Singapore banking leaders report rising fraud losses

Social engineering scams emerged as the leading threat.

Three-quarters of banking fraud, anti-money laundering and compliance leaders in Singapore said fraud losses at their institutions are increasing, according to a survey commissioned by BioCatch.

The survey of 100 banking professionals found that 91% had also observed an increase in fraud attempts. The share reporting higher losses exceeded the regional average of 67% and the global average of 60%.

Social engineering scams were identified as the most common threat, with more than half of respondents naming them among the leading fraud types.

Reimbursement practices remained limited. Only 27% said their institution reimbursed more than half of scam-related losses, compared with a global average of 44%. Just 1% reported that their bank reimbursed between 76% and 100% of such losses.

Meanwhile, 36% said their bank had already deployed behavioural biometric technology. Among respondents whose institutions had not adopted it, 75% said their bank was evaluating the technology.

Banks also reported varying levels of preparedness for new Monetary Authority of Singapore requirements covering FAST and PayNow. Whilst 95% believed their institution was at least mostly prepared, only 14% of fraud professionals considered their organisation fully ready.

The findings reflect responses from banking fraud-management, AML and compliance leaders and may not represent the entire Singapore banking sector.