PS23/4: APP scams reimbursement policy statement

Why are we publishing these documents? 

We are taking bold action against Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. In our June 2023 policy statement, we outlined a new reimbursement requirement within Faster Payments (FPS) to improve fraud prevention and focus firms’ effort on protecting consumers. 

In this publication we are setting out the final detailed parameters of the reimbursement requirement, as well as the legal instruments we are using to implement the policy. We are also confirming the policy start date of 7 October 2024. 

What do these documents contain? 

Policy statement  

Confirms our final policy position on the items we consulted on since our June policy statement. The document gives our final position on, and more information around: 

• The consumer standard of caution  
• The level of the excess 
• The maximum level of reimbursement  
• The start date of the policy 
• The legal instruments we are using to implement the reimbursement requirement 

Legal instruments 

The three instruments that will give effect to our policy. They consist of: 

• Specific Requirement 1 imposed on Pay.UK. This requires Pay.UK to create the reimbursement rules. 

• Specific Direction 19 to Pay.UK. This directs Pay.UK to create and propose to us their plans for an effective compliance monitoring regime.  

• Specific Direction 20 to directed PSPs. This contains the reimbursement requirement and directs in scope PSPs to comply with the reimbursement rules.  

Ancillary documents 

• Consumer standard of caution exception  
• Consumer standard of caution exception guidance  
• Notice of values for excess and maximum level of reimbursement 
• Cost Benefit Analysis 
• Consultation question by question responses 
• Equality Impact Assessment 

Who should read these documents? 

This document is relevant to the payments industry, consumer groups, payment service providers, and prospective qualifying consumer who use authorised push payments to send money and will be within scope of the policy.  

What happens next? 

Now that we have published the legal instruments, set the start date and finalised the outstanding policy issues, we expect industry’s preparations for the reimbursement requirement to gather momentum. We will continue to monitor and support Pay.UK’s and PSPs’ progress towards implementation.  

We will continue to engage directly with PSPs and trade associations to understand any relevant challenges. We will set up a process to address their implementation and policy questions to provide the clarity industry needs to adequately prepare for the start date in October 2024. 

For firms who are directly impacted by the implementation of our requirements

Where you have a question about our APP Scams Policy which is not answered in our existing publications, please email us at: appscamspolicyclarifications@psr.org.uk

We will check this mailbox daily, Monday to Friday, and aim to respond to all queries within ten working days. However, where a query is particularly complex, it may take us longer to reply.

We will aim to keep you updated on the status of our response to your query, should we need more than seven days to respond.

Some types of queries we may be unable to answer, for instance, requests for legal advice, or how our policy applies to the facts of a particular case.

The App Scams Policy mailbox is for queries about our APP Scams Reimbursement Policy. If your query relates to another area of the PSR’s work, please re-send your email to: contactus@psr.org.uk

If your query relates to the implementation of our APP Scams Reimbursement Policy, rather than the policy itself, we will let you know who will be responding to you.

In the future, we may add some frequently asked questions to this page.