Kuala Lumpur, 14 April 2011:- The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) would like to clarify that card issuers including its relevant member banks will be implementing transaction alerts via short messaging service (SMS) to their cardholders in the case of certain types of transactions and of certain triggers being met effective 1 January 2012.
ABM would like to reiterate that such SMS messages will not be issued or sent by Bank Negara Malaysia as mistakenly reported in some media sources today.
Under the initiative, unless cardholders elect in writing specifically to receive the alerts via other channels such as electronic mail (e-mail), SMS alerts will be sent in respect of the following transactions:-
(i) purchase transactions made at the point of sale;
(ii) online transactions;
(iii) withdrawal/cash advance transactions; and
(iv) mail and telephone order transactions.
Card issuers are currently finalizing the approach to be taken in setting the triggers for the alerts including the threshold amount. Mindful that cardholders should be given the benefit of choice, they will be allowed to set their own preferred threshold amount for the transaction alert. Only if they were to fail to do so would card issuers send transaction alerts based on a default threshold amount set by the issuer.
Further, in response to remarks by some cardholders, ABM assures cardholders that there will be no transfers of the cost of sending the SMS alerts by card issuers to cardholders.
To ensure the effectiveness of the alerts, cardholders are strongly encouraged to ensure that the contact numbers given to their card issuers are current and to update their contact numbers if they have not done so.
SMS alerts will supplement card issuers’ existing individual fraud monitoring systems to detect any suspicious transactions. A majority of card issuers do presently call cardholders to verify if the transactions are genuine.
Members of the public are welcomed to find out more about this initiative through ABM’s toll free number, ABMConnect 1-300-88-9980 which is opened from Mondays to Fridays (save for public holidays), 9.00a.m. to 5.30p.m. or through its website, www.abm.org.my.
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