New APP fraud reimbursement rules implemented by the Payment Systems Regulator could lead to around a quarter of victims being denied refunds warns UK bank TSB.
Set for introduction next year in the face of an epidemic of authorised push payment fraud, the PSR's plans allow banks to adopt a £100 threshold for reimbursing victims.
TSB, which currently refunds 98 percent of fraud cases under its Fraud Refund Guarantee, is urging the regulator to reconsider its plans, pointing out that 20-40-year-olds account for over half (52%) of such cases, while one in six (17%) are over 60.
By monetary value, cases under £100 account for a small amount of overall fraud losses - at one percent. Yet this equates to a projected £5 million stolen from UK households every year on current fraud rates.
TSB is also calling on the regulator to scrap proposals for a £35 excess fee per claim - with concerns the excess would disproportionately impact financially vulnerable people amid a cost-of-living crisis.
The bank says that over one in 10 cases under the £100 threshold are victims of Advanced Fee Fraud - a category which typically targets the most financially vulnerable, often by exploiting a fee from victims trying to access loans that simply do not exist.
TSB warns that if a £100 threshold is applied, it would exclude a significant number of consumers who have fallen victim on social media sites, where scams remain rife.
For example, Meta-owned platforms (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) account for four fifths (80%) of all purchase fraud at TSB alone. And UK Finance states that over two thirds (70%) of all push-payment fraud starts on online platforms.
Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB says: “We welcome these moves by government and regulators to increase customer protection from Fraud. However, many people simply cannot afford losing £100 to fraud - especially in the current economic climate - and deserve to be protected from increasingly complex scams that often take place on social media sites."