New protection for people who have been tricked into transferring money to fraudsters has now been put in place however, not all banks are signed up to the scheme.
Many 84,000 bank customers lost money in 2018 after being targeted by fraud. Only a fraction of the amount they had lost was refunded by banks. This is all now changing as a new code will mean many people can be repaid what they have lost. The refund will come from a central pot in cases when the bank or customer are not to blame.
Eight banks, with 17 brands, have signed up to implement the code immediately:
- Barclays
- HSBC (including First Direct and M&S Bank)
- Lloyds (including Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Intelligent Finance)
- Metro Bank
- Nationwide
- RBS (including NatWest and Ulster Bank)
- Santander (including Cahoot and Cater Allen)
- Starling Bank
Large banks have made a fund to immediately refund the customers who are in the no blame category.
Fraudsters use most of their attention on trying to crack bank systems to try and con individuals. This can involve impersonating someone such as a homebuyer’s solicitor or a builder which the individual is expected to pay. In many cases it can be selling non-existent goods online.
£354 million has been lost in the past year in bank transfer scams.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “Protecting customers from the threat of scams and stopping money going to criminals are amongst the finance industry’s foremost priorities.
“Over the last year, the industry has been working in partnership with consumer groups, including Which?, to develop the code, which helps strengthen standards for customer protection and reimbursement.
“The new code delivers a commitment from all firms who sign up to it to reimburse victims of authorised push payment scams in any scenario where the customer has met the minimum standards expected of them under the code.”
