• Payments regulator updates on its plans to publish data on how well firms are protecting customers against APP scams.  
  • The regulator is seeking views on the way APP scam data will be collected and published.  

Today, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) outlines the technical process that banks and building societies will have to follow as part of its new reporting requirement for authorised push payment (APP) scams.    

APP scams are a major problem in the UK. In the first half of this year, there were over 95,000 incidents of APP scams, with losses totalling almost £250 million. People continue to lose life-changing sums of money to these scams, and the PSR is driving a package of measures to make sure banks and building societies ensure people are protected.  

In November 2021, the PSR consulted on a package of measures to tackle APP scams – these focused on the publication of scam data, industry efforts to improve intelligence sharing, and mandatory reimbursement for APP scam victims. Today’s consultation is about the technical process for the collection of scam data which will show for the first time how well firms are protecting customers.  

The data the regulator will require banks and building societies to provide covers the proportion of victims who are left fully or partially out of pocket, as well as the rates of APP scams happening at both sending and receiving banks or building societies.  

The publication of this data will dramatically increase the information available to customers about how well their bank or building society is doing in tackling scams and reimbursing victims.  

Kate Fitzgerald, the PSR’s Head of Policy 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 will help to make sure more APP scam victims are reimbursed and further encourage banks and building societies to have strong fraud prevention measures in place.” 

What happens next? 

In the consultation published today, the PSR has set out the next steps to implementing these important plans. This consultation closes on 17 January 2023. The regulator will consider the responses and seek views on reporting guidance, before publishing this along with a policy statement, direction and scam data publication template, which will include information about when the published reporting will start.  

ENDS