SINGAPORE: Multi- money electronic- wallets have grown in popularity by touting ease and cost savings, but they can even do more to tackle concerns about fraud prevention and resolution, experts said.
A multi- money e-wallet allows users to change and hold various currencies on a mobile game, as its title suggests.
In the write-up- epidemic travel bubble, the likes of YouTrip, Revolut and Wise have seen more users, mainly due to their aggressive exchange rates compared with conventional banks or moneychangers. They are also cheaper to use than record accounts, with lower or zero fees for international purchases.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) revised its cap on e-wallet purchases late last year, giving these e-wallets a boost.
Under the revised rules that took effect on Dec 15, users can hold up to S$ 20, 000 ( US$ 14, 700 ) in their e- wallets, up from S$ 5, 000. The annual saving reduce also went up from S$ 30, 000 to S$ 100, 000.
The primary travel budget to increase the user restrictions in accordance with the new regulations was YouTrip. In order to meet the authorities ‘ expectations regarding mitigating fraud threats, it also implemented new security measures, such as a “kill change” for users to defrost their account.
Different people have said they will follow suit.
However, authorities told CNA that despite having their own security measures and procedures for customer support in the event of scams, multi-currency e-wallets may still be less secure and effective than traditional financial institutions, which are subject to stricter requirements.
Aurobindo Ghosh, an associate professor of finance at Singapore Management University, said banks usually have huge teams monitoring user data and patterns to identify deceptive transactions in real time. These abilities are also being enhanced by advances in technology like artificial knowledge.
However, he claimed that these costs are” costly,” and that banks will have to pass some expenses on as fees to cardholders in order to maintain the features and safety that are offered.
On the other hand, multi- money cards mainly “act more like online wallets and bank facilities”. They typically operate with less workforce and are typically less regulated, according to experts, making them less expensive to run.
Asst. Prof. Ghosh explained that whenever we are choosing a multi-currency digital wallet, we sacrifice some of the increased security features for the less expensive option.