Today, UK Finance has published its fraud report for the first half of 2019 which includes information on Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams.
From 28 May 2019, a new voluntary industry code came into effect, giving people greater chance of being reimbursed if they fall victim to this devastating crime. The PSR has also used its powers to give the UK’s six biggest banking groups a direction to fully implement Confirmation of Payee (CoP) by March 2020. CoP is an important tool that will further protect banking customers from APP scams, by helping them avoid sending payments to the wrong account or organisation.
Chris Hemsley, Managing Director of the PSR said:
"We know APP scams can have a devastating impact on the people who fall victim. That’s why the new industry code, which came into force at the end of May this year, is so important in giving people protections they’ve never had before.
“Today’s report demonstrates why the industry needs to continue driving forward other initiatives to stop frauds from happening in the first place - and Confirmation of Payee will be one of those important, additional steps to protecting people.”