BSP to tighten rules for online banking security

BANKS will soon be required to tighten security features on online transactions, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sets stricter standards versus hacking and identity theft.

BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said last week that the Monetary Board has approved a new set of guidelines on identity verification, as the regulator seeks to strengthen cybersecurity measures at a time of rising digital financial transactions.

“The Board has approved [a measure], the circular is being crafted right now. It’s about requiring multi-factor authentication,” Mr. Espenilla told reporters in a recent ambush interview.

“We are elevating the standard so that the authentication requirements [make it] harder to fake the identity.”

Mr. Espenilla said the circular was approved during the Monetary Board’s March 30 meeting, and is currently under final review before it is published for banks’ compliance.

The central bank official said the stricter rules seek to address hacking and “card-notpresent” fraud, which are the emerging types of financial crimes. Identity theft entails stealing of personal information used to commit fraud by using a person’s money, credit history, or reputation.

The central bank has been actively studying measures to raise the bar on cybersecurity, at a time of rising digital transactions.

“We’re going digital, so you have to make the environment also secure. Cybercrime is really an issue so we have to deal with it, we can’t ignore the problem,” Mr. Espenilla added.

In 2016, the BSP created a new division under its core information technology supervision group composed of experts that will focus on examining banks’ firewalls to test their shields versus cybercrimes.

In February, the central bank also required digital platforms handling virtual currency conversions to register with the BSP, as the regulator seeks to keep an eye on online-based financial deals.