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ACCORDING to Bank Negara Malaysia’s 2024 report, more than 95% of scams occur when victims are manipulated into transferring money to unknown entities. In Singapore, though, you make it more difficult for transfers to be made. 

According to reports, the “Money Lock” feature, first introduced there in November 2023, has locked away S$30bil (RM92.4bil) from scammers, and was used by almost 400,000 bank customers as of mid-2025.

This feature allows you to lock up a portion of your money within existing accounts. Once locked, the money is difficult to access and, most importantly, cannot be siphoned away if scammers take control of your account. Only three Malaysian banks offer this feature in their apps.

Money Lock slows things down. Scammers shout and plead to keep you panicking. 

With Money Lock enacted, large transactions cannot be done immediately because the account holder needs to visit an ATM or bank branch to unlock funds. This pauses action and reduces the emotional intimidation.

Money Lock also helps the younger generation to protect elderly relatives. For example, if the parents have RM5,000 in savings, the children can lock out RM4,000 and leave RM1,000 in the parents’ account for living expenses. In case of a scam, the maximum loss will be RM1,000 and the funds set aside remain safe.

I hope more Malaysian banks will offer this feature as a proactive step to minimise losses. Perhaps Bank Negara Malaysia can make this a mandatory national step for the banks. 

With the existing kill switch and cooling off period applied together with Money Lock, we can make our protections more robust. Indeed, Money Lock is the digital Milo tin that everyone can count on, and it’s time to implement it here decisively.

ALH

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my