The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has introduced a daily transfer cap of 50,000 baht for children and elderly mobile banking users in a bid to curb financial fraud.
Daranee Saeju, assistant governor for payment systems policy and financial consumer protection, said the new customer profiling system will assign transfer limits based on risk categories.
Users are now divided into three groups: suspected fraudsters, general users, and vulnerable customers, with the latter including those under 15 and over 65 years old.
Under the scheme, daily transfer limits are structured into three tiers: under 50,000 baht (S), under 200,000 baht (M), and above 200,000 baht (L). Limits will vary depending on each customer’s risk profile and the bank’s know-your-customer (KYC) assessment.
The measure is already in place for new applicants, while existing mobile banking users will be required to comply gradually by year-end. Each bank will determine its own risk classifications, though customers with strong financial histories will not be affected.
“The transfer limit depends on customers’ financial behaviour,” said Ms. Daranee. “For example, banks may start with lower limits for new or inactive clients. Meanwhile, regular customers can continue transactions as usual.”
Customers who need higher limits may request an upgrade from their banks. However, the BoT has instructed financial institutions to closely monitor vulnerable groups, who are often targeted by fraudsters.
Thailand has about 12 million mobile banking users. Existing BoT safeguards already cap transfers at 50,000 baht per transaction, with facial recognition required, and 200,000 baht per day in total.
Despite these measures, fraud remains a pressing issue. In June alone, 24,500 scam cases linked to money transfers were reported, with total losses of 2.8 billion baht. The average loss per case was 114,000 baht, while the largest single fraudulent transfer amounted to 4.9 million baht.
Across the region, victims transferring more than 50,000 baht per transaction to mule accounts accounted for 22% of cases but made up 76% of overall losses. Scammers typically siphoned off half the stolen money within three minutes, while victims took an average of 19 to 25 hours to report the crime.
During the first six months of this year, children under 15 were involved in 78,468 scam cases, while victims aged over 65 accounted for 416,453 cases.
