The Monetary Authority of Singapore is giving banks and credit-card issuers until 30 June to begin to follow its e-payment user protection guidelines. This is a six-month reprieve from the original date.

The guidelines, issued in September and originally intended to come into force on 31 January, set out the duties of financial institutions and users in respect of secure e-payment transactions, simplify processes that correct errors when a user sends money to the wrong recipient and apportion liability between financial institutions and users for unauthorised transactions.

The banks have asked the MAS for more time because the job of changing their systems - especially those that facilitate the transaction notification standards - is large and complex. In the meantime, the MAS is encouraging consumers to "enable notification alerts" for such transactions as debit/credit cards payments, funds transfer and cash withdrawals if their bank is able to provide them. It believes that consumers should monitor these notification alerts closely and report unauthorised transactions immediately for their banks to follow up.