Two-Hour Gap to Prevent Fraud in Digital Transactions: SBP

 The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that two hours cooling period has been introduced to avoid the any fraudulent transactions in digital payments.

 “Beneficiary can receive funds instantly after they are transferred,” the central bank said adding that digital funds are transferred immediately in banking accounts.

However, it adds that two hours cooling period applies only on those usages or cash-out of funds which beneficiary receives in branchless banking accounts.Governor SBP inaugurates JazzCash Experience Lounge 

The two hours cooling period was introduced in April 2023.

The bank has stated in response to the social media posts referring to two hours cooling period for digital funds transfer.

The SBP has made it clear that beneficiaries received funds in their accounts instantly. It further said that all digital funds are transferred immediately.

The bank has further added that the 2-hours cooling period applies to the usage/ cash-out of funds which beneficiary received in branchless banking wallets/accounts.

It has said that beneficiary can received funds instantly in branchless wallets and accounts also receive funds instantly.

However, customers can make the cash-outs, on-line purchases or mobile top-ups against these funds after passing the two (02) hours cooling period.

SBP also said that it had introduced this requirement in April 2023. This was introduced as the ‘customer due diligence requirements’ for branchless banking accounts. The bank said that these accounts are relatively simpler and therefore, fraudulent transactions may happen in these accounts.

The customer can have sufficient time of two hours cooling period to avoid the any fraudulent transactions to their banks. During this period, he can also report spam activities.