Singapore’s seven largest banks have introduced a major new rule aimed at stopping scammers from emptying accounts in a matter of hours. The measure, which concerns the island’s 6.11 million residents, has already taken effect.

If you bank with Citibank, HSBC, Maybank or Standard Chartered and hold at least S$50,000 in your account, an outgoing transfer of no less than 50% of your balance within 24 hours will be suspended for 24 hours or rejected outright.

That may sound confusing, so let us take an example. There is a prerequisite: your account balance must first exceed S$50,000.

Suppose I have opened an account with DBS Bank in Singapore. There is S$100,000 in it today, and I want to transfer S$60,000 to a friend. Under the new rule, an outgoing transfer exceeding half the account’s total balance will trigger the bank’s suspicion, so the transaction is likely to be put on hold for 24 hours.

If I realise I have been scammed, the transaction can be cancelled straight away. The money will not have been taken immediately, leaving an opportunity to stop the payment before it goes through.

Of course, if the transfer is genuine and urgent, you can still complete it eventually. But you may need to visit a bank branch or obtain approval through online customer service.

I think Singapore has taken strong action this time. The main purpose of introducing this rule is to stop scammers from draining people’s accounts in a short space of time. The delay gives someone who realises they have been deceived a chance to act before losing their money.

That said, as we all know, plenty of business owners, high-net-worth people and young people working in fintech regularly make large cash transfers. For them, a genuine payment may now mean a delay, a branch visit or a request for approval. The implications of this rule are obvious.