Belgium banks to lower transfer limits and add cooling periods to fight fraud

Belgium’s Minister of Consumer Protection Rob Beenders and the banking federation Febelfin have launched an action plan to curb phishing and online fraud. From 2027 the standard daily transfer limit will be capped at €5,000, and any request to raise a limit will trigger a mandatory four‑hour “cooling‑down” period during which the customer is notified and must confirm the change.

The plan also requires banks to share fraud data, place suspicious transactions on hold, and resolve fraud cases within 15 working days. A central phone line, Fraudstop (078 170 170), has been set up for consumers to report suspected fraud. Additional security measures include extra locks on savings accounts, integration of the itsme identity app into banking apps, and ING’s “Check your Conversation” feature.

The measures respond to rising phishing activity, with more than 40,000 attempts reported daily, a 30 % rise in online‑fraud reports last year to about 11,300 cases and losses estimated at €93 million.