PSR pushes for payee confirmation paradise
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is calling for feedback again so it can help protect people from authorised push payment (APP) scams
The justice seeker is back!
This follows on from February, when the PSR announced the outcome of its consultation on introducing a contingent reimbursement model for victims of APP scams.
Today (23 November), it’s not relenting in its noble campaign and has published its consultation for confirmation of payee (CoP). This is seen as a way to protect people from APP scams and the regulator wants to make sure its approach is the right one.
If you have no freaking idea what a CoP is, then the PSR explains that it is the industry-agreed way of ensuring that names of recipients are checked before payments are sent. It will work by checking the account name and account details to make sure there is a match. Alerts will notify the payer whether there has been a match or not, meaning corrections can be made before the payment is made.
Hannah Nixon, MD of the PSR, says: “APP scams have a devastating effect on the people who fall victim. We have always said that more could be done to protect consumers from this type of fraud – especially around preventing them from happening in the first instance.”
She adds: “CoP will not only provide people with protection against these scams, but also make sure that other, misdirected payments are prevented in the future as well.”
To back this up, the PSR says of the £145.4 million lost through APP scams in the first six months of 2018, £93.9 million was attributed to malicious redirection.
The technical standards have now been agreed in work coordinated by Pay.UK – the operator of the Bacs, Faster Payments and cheque payment systems in the UK – and is now ready for implementation by banks and other payment service providers (PSPs).
The PSR’s consultation considers whether regulatory intervention is needed to require banks and PSPs to implement CoP. Feedback is open until 4 January 2019. You can give your views here.
Like Frasier from the great TV comedy show, the PSR is listening. It will then consider the feedback received and the next steps.
