Singaporean banking giant, DBS/POSB, has announced its latest offering to combat the growing occurrence of online scams and fraud, introducing a digital account with the security and protections of a physical vault.

To enter the market by the end of November, digiVault allows customers to transfer funds digitally into the account after which they can only be physically withdrawn, which requires an identity verification process.

digiVault aims to better secure customer funds by reducing their potential exposure to scammers and fraudulent transactions, and is the latest addition to the bank’s suite of anti-scam security measures just announced last month.

“digiVault is akin to a virtual safe deposit box in a vault – a simple concept that is easy to understand and adopt. The funds in the account are locked away and will give our customers peace of mind that it cannot be accessed digitally,” Han Kwee Juan, DBS Singapore Country Head, said.

“digiVault serves as a complement to existing security features including the recently launched Security Checkup dashboard, Safety Switch, Payment Controls and transaction notification alerts; all of which come together to form a strong multi-layered defense against scams and fraud.”

Other security measures implemented by the bank include anti-malware functions, a new Security Checkup dashboard already used by 120,000 customers in the past month to monitor the security settings of their online accounts, and the Payment Controls feature introduced in 2021 which allows certain settings to be activated on credit or debit cards.

DBS/POSB customers can set up a digiVault account through their digibank portal and can either transfer funds from existing DBS/POSB accounts or deposit new funds.