FCA publishes new rules on handling complaints about APP fraud

FCA publishes new rules on handling complaints about APP fraud

Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has contributed to the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) paper on Authorised Push Payment Scams. Following a super-complaint by Which?, the consumer watchdog, the regulators found that receiving PSPs could do more to identify fraudulent incoming payments and prevent accounts from being compromised by fraudsters.

The FCA has today published new rules allowing victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud to complain to the payment services provider (PSP) receiving their payment. APP fraud is when a payer is tricked into making an APP to an account controlled by the fraudster.

As the regulator noted in today’s statement:

In the case of APP fraud, the PSP is often a bank which holds the accounts of either the victim or fraudster. Currently, the sending PSP, but not the receiving PSP, must handle these complaints in line with existing complaints handling rules in the FCA Handbook. These obligations have now been extended to the receiving PSP and victims can refer their complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are unhappy with the outcome. The new rules will come into force on 31 January 2019.

Christopher Woolard FCA

Christopher Woolard, FCA

Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition commented:

The FCA takes APP fraud and the harm it causes to consumers very seriously. Now victims of APP fraud can make a complaint to the PSP receiving their payment and if they’re not satisfied with the outcome, can refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

According to UK Finance data on APP fraud, there were 43,875 cases of APP fraud and total losses of £236 million in 2017.

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