Recommendation 26

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

We recognise and share the Committee’s concerns regarding payments fraud. The government is committed to tackling fraud within payment networks and recognises the actions of the financial services industry to help tackle Authorised Push Payment fraud. The government has recognised the actions of the financial services industry to reduce Authorised Push Payment fraud, including investment in anti-fraud capabilities, the creation of a voluntary reimbursement Code, and the implementation of initiatives such as Confirmation of Payee. However, there is more that needs to be done to prevent these scams, and to ensure that victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own. The government therefore welcomed the publication of the Payment Systems Regulator’s Consultation on further measures to counter Authorised Push Payment scams on 18 November. In developing their approach to Authorised Push Payment scam reimbursement, the Payment Systems Regulator identified a barrier in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 preventing it from using its existing regulatory powers to introduce mandatory Authorised Push Payment scam reimbursement for scams which occur over Faster Payments. As such, in November 2021 the Economic Secretary stated that the Government would legislate at the earliest opportunity to address these barriers to regulatory action on Authorised Push Payment fraud.