Local banks are keeping an eye on any suspect credit-card transactions to protect consumers' interest, Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam says. He urges people who have used credit cards in the US recently to pay close attention to their statements.

The leak of electronic data in the US has exposed 40 million customers worldwide to fraud, with about 20,000 local Visa and Mastercard holders at risk.

Speaking to the media today, Mr Yam said local banks have been closely monitoring the situation to protect credit-card holders from having personal details leaked. They will contact customers at once if there are any suspect transactions.

So far there are no reports regarding the leakage of local credit-card holders' details, though there are one or two card holders who suspect they have been affected by the fiasco, he added.

According to The Code of Banking Practice, card issuers will bear the full loss incurred when faults have occurred in terminals, or other systems used, which cause cardholders to suffer direct loss unless the fault is obvious or advised by a message or notice on display.

People are urged to pay attention to their monthly statements if they have used credit cards in the US recently.