East West Banking Corp. is urging customers to adopt safer online banking practices and use available account protection features as digital transactions become increasingly common in the Philippines.
The bank’s reminder for Cybersecurity Awareness Month centers on three habits: pausing before completing a transaction, checking payment and account details, and using available security controls to reduce exposure to fraud.
EastWest said customers should verify transaction details before confirming payments, keep passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs) private, avoid suspicious links, regularly review account activity and report unusual transactions immediately.
Its EasyWay digital banking platform provides biometric login and authentication, OTP verification, encryption and additional authentication for certain transactions. Customers can also manage selected card settings and transaction notifications through the platform.
Principal EastWest credit cardholders can use EasyWay’s Lock/Unlock function to temporarily stop new purchases and recurring charges on linked cards. The bank advised customers with lost or stolen cards to contact its customer service immediately to have them permanently blocked.
Another security feature, EasyLock, allows customers to set aside part of their savings balance so it cannot be used for online or digital transactions until it is unlocked.
EastWest has also introduced safeguards under its Banking Made Safer program, in line with the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act and applicable Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas regulations.
These include Emergency Shield, which allows customers to suspend digital banking access and outgoing transactions if they suspect their accounts have been compromised.
The bank’s Transaction Pause Period automatically imposes a 24-hour hold on digital transactions following certain sensitive account changes, such as updates to a registered mobile number, email address or device.
EastWest also implements Temporary Holding of Funds, which may place money involved in a disputed or potentially unauthorized electronic transaction on hold while verification is conducted.
The measures come as digital payments account for a growing share of retail transactions. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data cited by EastWest showed that digital payments represented 52.8% of retail payment transactions in 2023, up from 42.1% in 2022 and 1% a decade earlier.
“Digital banking should make everyday financial tasks easier, but convenience and security must go hand in hand,” EastWest CEO Jerry Ngo said.
“As more customers choose to bank digitally, we continue to invest in safeguards that help protect them while keeping banking simple and accessible. By giving customers greater visibility and control over their accounts, we are making security a more natural part of the banking experience,” he added.
The bank reminded customers never to share passwords, OTPs, card details, card verification values or other sensitive banking information, including with individuals claiming to represent EastWest.
It also advised customers to transact only through trusted channels, keep their devices secure and updated, avoid unfamiliar links and check their accounts regularly for transactions they do not recognize.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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