New Rules for Fraud Reimbursement
The Payment Systems Regulator’s new mandatory reimbursement requirements for authorised push payment (APP) fraud claims.
What are the new mandatory reimbursement requirements?
From 7 October 2024, The Payment Systems Regulator will require Payment Service Providers to reimburse most APP fraud victims within five business days (Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays).
The new requirements being introduced aim to enhance customer protection — with both the sending and receiving Payment Service Provider required to split the costs of reimbursement equally.
APP fraud explained
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud is where individuals are victims of a scam due to fraudsters tricking them into sending money. Some examples of these are:
- Impersonation scams where fraudsters pretend to be from your bank or the police
- Purchase scams that trick you into paying for goods or services that never show up
- Romance scams involve building trust online before asking you for money.
Who is eligible for fraud reimbursement under the new rules?
The new reimbursement requirement applies to individuals, small businesses, and certain charities, where an APP scam payment is made using Faster Payments or CHAPS in the UK and sent to a relevant account in the UK. To be eligible, you need to raise a claim as soon as you realise it’s a scam, but no later than 13 months of the final payment made to a fraudster as part of the same scam.
The new rules require you to take caution when making payments — this is known as the Consumer Standard of Caution. Under the Consumer Standard of Caution, you should always remember to:
- Take note of fraud protection alerts and information provided by Payment Service Providers
- Report the fraud to your bank as soon as it happens
- Share all information necessary when reporting your claim to help the investigation
- Report the fraud to the police, or consent to the Payment Service Provider reporting on your behalf.
How long will it take?
The sending Payment Service Provider must reimburse any eligible APP claim to the victim within five business days of the victim reporting the scam. The Payment Service Provider may take longer under certain circumstances and pause the five business day reimbursement timescale. The timescale for deciding whether to reimburse is then moved to 35 business days.
How much can be reimbursed?
The maximum reimbursement amount per claim is £85,000. However, this amount may change in the future. Payment Service Providers can choose to apply up to a £100 excess on any APP fraud claim. If Payment Service Providers choose to apply this excess, customers will be reimbursed the full amount minus £100. For claims under £100, no reimbursement would be provided.
Reporting your claim
If you’ve been a victim of an APP scam and sent funds from your Real Money Account, you should report this to us immediately. You can let us know by visiting our website or contacting us via email appr@realmoneytransfer.eu. You should also report this to the police, or consent to us reporting your claim to the police on your behalf.
Your claim will be assessed under the mandatory reimbursement requirements, and we’ll keep you updated. We may also need to contact you for further information to support your claim.
Exceptions to the reimbursement requirement
There may be some instances where you may not be eligible for reimbursement such as:
- Gross negligence
- Payments that aren’t Faster Payments or CHAPS, for example international payments, cash withdrawals, loans, and cheques
- Claims or transactions made before 7 October 2024 and APP claims submitted more than 13 months after the final payment to the fraudster
- Civil disputes
Protect yourself from fraud
You can always find further information on protecting yourself from fraud on our website and remember — if you believe you’ve been a victim of fraud, please contact us on the details below.