The UK's Payment Systems Regulator is to extend its scam reimbursement programme to transactions taking place across the Chaps high value payments network.
In June 2023, the PSR published its policy requiring payment firms to reimburse Authorised push payment (APP) victims who lose money through transactions over the Faster Payment System (FPS) - over which the majority of these scams happen.
However, criminals operate across multiple payment systems and in December 2023, the PSR said it would support the Bank of England as it introduces similar requirements for Chaps.
Chaps is a sterling same-day system that is used to settle high-value wholesale payments as well as time-critical, lower-value payments like buying or paying a deposit on a property.
The PSR says that the new rules mean that consumers will benefit from consistent protection across two major UK payment systems and more payment firms will be incentivised to tackle scams, reducing the likelihood of criminals switching from FPS to Chaps due to differences in firms’ defences.
Kate Fitzgerald, the PSR’s head of policy, says: “It is important that we make it harder for fraudsters to operate. Providing consistent incentives across payment systems is a crucial step in ensuring everyone does their best to tackle scams.”
“It will help to close existing gaps and to make sure more payment firms across systems are incentivised to prevent scams from happening in the first place, while protecting those who do fall victim.”
Following an earlier consultation programme, Fitzgerald says the regulator expects to finalise and publish the specific direction in September 2024. The PSR is proposing 7 October as the go-live date; the same as the FPS reimbursement policy, meaning APP scam victims will get the same protection across both payment systems.