The mandatory reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud remain a central feature of the UK payments landscape, requiring banks and payment firms to refund most victims of scams made over the Faster Payments system. Introduced by the Payment Systems Regulator in October 2024, the regime splits the cost of reimbursement between the bank that sent the payment and the bank that received it.
Authorised push payment fraud, known as APP fraud, occurs when a customer is deceived into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal. Because the customer instructs the transfer, these scams differ from unauthorised transactions and were historically harder to recover.
How the reimbursement rules operate
Under the Payment Systems Regulator scheme, firms must reimburse eligible victims of APP fraud sent via Faster Payments, with the cost shared equally between the sending and receiving payment firms. The rules set a reimbursement period within which claims must be assessed and a maximum reimbursement level for the scheme.
A consumer standard of caution applies. Customers are expected to have some regard to warnings and to act honestly, and reimbursement can be limited where a customer is found to have been grossly negligent, a high bar that excludes ordinary mistakes. Vulnerable customers are afforded additional protection under the scheme.
- The cost of reimbursement is split equally between the sending and receiving firms
- Claims are assessed within a defined period set by the regulator
- A consumer standard of caution and a vulnerability exception shape eligibility
Confirmation of Payee as a front-line check
Confirmation of Payee is the name-checking service that verifies whether the account name a customer enters matches the name on the receiving account. The service has been extended across the industry and is designed to catch payments misdirected by error or by a scammer providing false account details.
When the name does not match, the customer receives a warning before the payment is sent. Pay.UK, which operates the Faster Payments and other retail payment systems, and the major banks have promoted the service as a defence against both fraud and accidental misdirection.
Why summer draws fraud warnings
UK Finance, the banking trade body, publishes regular data on fraud losses and has highlighted seasonal patterns, with purchase scams and impersonation scams featuring prominently. The summer period, which brings higher spending on travel, holiday lettings and event tickets, is routinely cited by banks in fraud-awareness campaigns.
Purchase scams, in which a customer pays for goods or services that never arrive, account for a large share of reported APP cases by volume. Impersonation scams, where a criminal poses as a bank, a delivery firm or a government body, typically involve larger individual losses.
What customers are advised to do
Banks and the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, run with UK Finance, advise customers to verify requests independently and to be cautious of pressure to act quickly. A payment made through Faster Payments settles within seconds, which is why pre-payment checks carry weight.
Victims of APP fraud are directed to report the matter to their bank promptly and to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre. The reimbursement rules apply to payments made after the scheme came into force, and the assessment of each claim rests with the firms involved under the regulator's framework.