We thank Mr Lam Jer Wei for his letter (Current phone activation process for OCBC 'kill switch' requires too little information, Feb 21).

We would like to clarify the intent and the process of activating the kill switch by calling the bank.

The kill switch is for use only in an emergency, such as a fraud or scam.

An effective kill switch must not be difficult or tedious to activate, and must halt an operation as quickly as possible.

In an emergency, when a customer's bank account has been compromised, time is of the essence to quickly block the account from fraudulent transactions.

Customers are very anxious at that moment. The information needed to activate the kill switch upon calling the bank's official contact number would therefore need to be easy to retrieve or remember.

Adding verification layers by having staff ask questions about the customer's name, date of birth and banking relationships would slow the process tremendously.

Personal bank account log-in information such as passwords, PINs or credit card CVV security numbers are never asked for over the phone.

Once the emergency kill switch is activated, a follow-up call will be made soon after by a bank customer service executive to ensure that it was activated by the actual bank account holder and was not an act of mischief.

The customer service executive will help the account holder to remove any compromised bank account access or cards, issue new ones, deactivate the kill switch and restore accounts.

If a customer prefers to speak to a bank staff member about a compromised bank account, there is an option to do so after calling the bank's official contact number.

This option would take longer as the staff member will first have to validate the customer though the usual authentication process.

There are other ways to activate the kill switch - via OCBC Bank ATMs or by visiting any OCBC branch.

Dennis Lee

Head of Risk and Prevention

Consumer Financial Services Singapore

OCBC Bank