BOT’s Role in Safeguarding Thailand’s Financial System from Misuse
The BOT places importance on safeguarding Thailand’s financial system from misuse in a consistent and sustainable manner. In this regard, BOT has implemented various regulations and measures to guide the practices of relevant entities.
1. The BOT will enhance minimum rules and standards, as well as related supervision.
1.1 Prevent deposit accounts and e-Money from being used as money transfer channels linked to illegal activities.
1.2 Prevent payment services from being used to receive proceeds for illegal merchants.
1.3 Prevent financial channels from being used to convert proceeds of crime into assets that are difficult to trace, examine, or detect through financial trails.
1.4 Protect financial service users from falling victim to fraud or being exploited to support illegal activities.
2. The BOT will analyze linkages and share insights, risk behavior patterns, and best practices.
3. The BOT will coordinate with supervisory authorities, law enforcement agencies, relevant government agencies, other central banks, and international organizations.
Enhancing supervision of financial institutions
- Issue standard guidelines on Digital Fraud Management (DFM) to escalate end-to-end management of mule accounts, including brown mule accounts and youth mule accounts, while protecting victims and legitimate customers.
- Issue a notification on Merchant Fraud Management to enhance end-to-end merchant risk management.
Cash and gold measures
- Cash: Set limits on deposits, transfers, and money exchanges at commercial bank branches for transactions of THB 5 million and above.
- Gold: Set limits on cash-based gold purchases and sales exceeding THB 10 million.
Protecting financial services users from becoming victims
- Issue a notification on Digital Channels Security to escalate multi-factor authentication across all digital channels.
- Issued a notification on Card Fraud Management to escalate identity verification for online purchases and provide additional self-service risk management channels.
Enhancing standards for Non-bank business operators
- Assess qualified operators, conduct ongoing supervision, and enhance license conditions based on risk, such as for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL).
- Amend laws to grant the BOT comprehensive supervisory authority over Non-bank operators.
Analyzing and sharing information with financial institutions
- Share risk insights and best practices, while developing patterns to enhance detection.
- Share high-risk unusual transaction information with financial institutions and Non-bank.
Coordinating with supervisory and law enforcement agencies
- The Royal Police share account information and online gambling typologies with the BOT and financial institutions.
- Financial institutions report Super STRs under the BOT framework for further review by AMLO.
Measures Implemented by the Bank of Thailand
Prevent deposit accounts and e-Money from being used as money transfer channels linked to illegal activities
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Strengthening Know Your Customer (KYC) and monitoring of unusual transactions or behavior CDD/EDD
For commercial banks, specialized financial institutions, and e-payment service providers, the BOT requires end-to-end risk management systems, including know-your-customer (KYC) processes, identity verification, monitoring and detection of unusual transactions or behavior (CDD/EDD) where risks are identified, reporting of unusual transaction information to the BOT, and measures to support affected customers.
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Strengthening end-to-end digital fraud management
The BOT has issued Digital Fraud Management (DFM) guidelines requiring financial service providers to strengthen end-to-end management of digital fraud risks, covering prevention, monitoring and detection, incident response and remediation, as well as assistance for affected customers. >> Read more
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Setting financial sector standards under the shared responsibility principle in the Emergency Decree
The BOT has prescribed the duties of financial institutions and e-payment service providers under the shared responsibility principle stipulated in the Emergency Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crime (No. 2), B.E. 2568 (2025).
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Setting daily transfer and payment limits through digital channels
The BOT has worked with financial institutions to implement preventive measures by setting daily transfer and payment limits through digital channels that are appropriate to each customer’s usage behavior under Customer Profiling. This helps limit the use of mule accounts by fraudsters and reduce potential losses to the public. >> Read more
Prevent payment services from being used to receive proceeds for illegal merchants
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Requiring e-payment service providers to submit merchant data
The BOT requires e-payment service providers to submit merchant data under the Merchant Data Analytics (MDA) framework. The information will be used to analyze merchant irregularities and linkages among merchants that may pose risks or be used as channels for illegal activities, as well as to assess the adequacy and appropriateness of supervision. >> Read more
Prevent the financial system from being used to convert proceeds of crime into assets that are difficult to trace, examine, or detect through financial trails
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Setting conditions for cash withdrawals of THB 5 million or more per day
Financial institutions must verify the purpose of the transaction and request supporting documents from customers who withdraw cash of THB 5 million or more per day, in order to escalate risk management and prevent financial institutions from being used as channels for illegal activities. >> Read more
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Setting transaction limits for gold trading on online platforms
The BOT has set a limit on gold purchases or sales of no more than THB 50 million per person per platform, applicable only to platforms settled in Thai baht, in order to enhance transparency in gold trading and reduce potential impacts on baht stability. >> Read more
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Limiting purchases of foreign currency to no more than THB 800,000 per day per customer
The BOT requires licensed foreign exchange businesses to limit foreign currency purchases from customers to no more than THB 800,000 per customer per day. In border areas and designated locations, the limit is reduced to THB 200,000 per customer per day. >> Read more
Protect financial service users from falling victim to fraud or being exploited to support illegal activities
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Enhancing the security of mobile applications
The BOT has issued policy guidelines on managing fraud risks in financial transactions as minimum standards for financial service providers. The guidelines cover prevention, detection, and response measures, including: (1) Prohibiting messages with embedded links, which may be used as channels for fraud. (2) Limiting mobile banking accounts at each bank to one device. (3) Requiring facial recognition authentication when specified conditions are met, such as transfers exceeding THB 50,000 per transaction. >> Read more
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Enhancing daily transfer and payment limits through digital channels to suit customer usage patterns (Customer Profiling)
- Set initial default limits for youth customers to reduce the risk of minors’ accounts being used to commit financial crime, as follows:
- Ages 10–12: e-money only, up to THB 3,000 per day
- Ages 12–15: up to THB 5,000 per day
- Ages 15–18: up to THB 10,000 per day
- Set daily transfer limits for elderly customers that are appropriate to their risk profiles, taking into account past transaction behavior. >> Read more
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Alerting customers who may be falling victim to fraud by using mule account and transfer data
Mitigate losses while victims are in the process of being deceived by integrating mule account information, including data from the Central Fraud Registry (CFR) and the Mule Account Risk Classification framework, with real-time transaction monitoring. Banks are required to provide real-time alerts prior to transaction completion, allowing customers to pause, reconsider, and prevent potentially fraudulent transfers. >> Read more
Analyze linkages and share insights, risk behavior patterns, and best practices with participating institutions
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Prescribing abnormal behavior patterns as minimum standards for detection
The BOT has prescribed 24 suspicious behavior patterns as minimum standards for financial institutions and non-bank payment service providers to detect and classify unusual transactions in a consistent manner. >> Read more
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Financial fraud
- Prescribe 11 additional suspicious behavior patterns for digital fraud as minimum standards for financial institutions.
- Share Best Practices from Thematic Examinations on digital fraud, covering end-to-end KPIs, the 3 Lines of Defense, fraud rule reviews, timely and accurate disruption of money trails, and complaint handling.
- Jointly analyze Money Trails to enhance mule account classification criteria, including cases where customers pay for goods but do not receive them.
Coordinate with supervisory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and relevant government agencies
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Financial fraud
- Connect and exchange information with the police, AMLO, the Department of Business Development, and the AOC Center to support faster detection and suppression of mule accounts.
- Work with the police, public prosecutors, and courts to promote the use of electronic documents and expedite case proceedings.
- Collaborate with the BIS Innovation Hub under Project Nadim to develop an AI Fraud Scoring Model and a protocol for exchanging fraud-related behavioral information among financial institutions and central banks.
- Sign an MOU with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to exchange information and insights on cyber and digital fraud, including emerging threat trends, supervisory approaches, and incident response.
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Digital assets
- Exchange FX stablecoin transaction data with the SEC to detect unusual transactions or transactions that may be related to illegal activities, while providing policy recommendations such as transfer limits. This measure is currently under public consultation.
- Participate in a Joint Operation with the SEC, the Royal Thai Police, and AMLO to connect and exchange information and insights for the prevention and suppression of financial crime.
