Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has outlined its plans to publish data on how well firms are protecting customers against authorised push payment (APP) scams.
PSR has explained the technical process that banks and building societies will have to follow as part of its new reporting requirement for APP scams.
The consultation published contains the next steps for implementing PSR’s plans. Once complete, the payment regulator is to consider all responses. The consultation is to close on 17 January 2023, at which point the views on reporting guidance are published. Eventually, a policy statement, direction and scam data publication template will also be published. The publication also includes information about when the published reporting will start.
In the first half of 2022 alone, over 95,000 incidents of APP scams took place, with losses totalling almost £250million. The scams are responsible for some people losing life-changing sums of money. In an effort to protect people, PSR is introducing a package of measures for banks and building societies.
PSR has explained the technical process for the collection of scam data. The data is to showcase how well firms are protecting customers for the first time. Banks and building societies will be required to reveal the proportion of victims whose pockets are hit. The rates of APP scams happening at both sending and receiving financial institutions will also need to be revealed.
Creating more transparency for a fairer financial system
By publishing this data, customers will have access to significantly more information about how well financial institutions are doing in tackling scams. They will also be able to see how these institutions have, if at all, reimbursed victims of the scams.
Kate Fitzgerald, head of policy at the Payment Systems Regulator, explained the need for greater transparency. She said: “Banks and building societies should be transparent, not only about how many of their customers have fallen victim to an APP scam, but also how they have treated those people.
“As well as giving customers more information to choose which bank or building society they want to use, the publication of this data will encourage banks and building societies to do more to help people.
“Our package of measures is to help to make sure more APP scam victims are reimbursed. Measures hope to further encourage banks and building societies to have strong fraud prevention measures in place.”
The goal is for banks and building societies to work harder to prevent these scams, once such regulations begin. These institutions should look to attract and retain customers with better numbers, with more information readily available to customers.
