HKMA deputy says 58,000 use 'Safe Deposit' service, HK$10 bln locked in
Hong Kong Monetary Authority deputy CEO Edwin Ng told lawmakers that 58,000 customers had used the 'Safe Deposit' service by September, locking nearly HK$10 billion. He also addressed concerns over credit card fraud and the adoption of 3DS2 verification by merchants.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) deputy chief executive Edwin Ng told the Legislative Council's financial affairs panel on 6 November that 58,000 customers had used the 'Safe Deposit' (智安存) service by the end of September, locking nearly HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in deposits that cannot be transferred online.
Ng said all 28 retail banks in Hong Kong had joined an interbank information-sharing platform, with the volume of information exchanged surging 14-fold.
Lawmakers raised concerns about credit card fraud, citing cases where criminals used stolen card details to order new mobile phones because merchants had not adopted 3D Secure (3DS/3DS2) verification tools.
Ng explained that 3DS2 is a security arrangement provided by credit card network operators and that globally the decision to use it rests with merchants. If a merchant chooses not to use it, the merchant bears any resulting losses, he said. However, he acknowledged that cardholders still face anxiety and that banks must handle disputes with them. The HKMA has been in contact with network operators and merchants to encourage adoption of 3DS2 security arrangements.
Asked whether cardholders could decide for themselves whether to require 3DS2, Ng said the HKMA would need to discuss the matter further with network operators, as no such practice exists anywhere in the world.