Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government offers financial support for victims of fraud.

The Government recognises the growing threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with increasingly sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives.

Since 2016, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the payments industry have worked together to both prevent payments fraud, and to develop better mechanisms for reimbursing victims of APP fraud. This has included introducing the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code in 2019. Under the Code, signatory payment service providers voluntarily reimburse APP victims. The government recognised and welcomed these developments.

However, reimbursement to victims of APP scams remains inconsistent. The Government is committed to tackling fraud within payments networks. That is why the Government has introduced legislation as part of the Financial Services & Markets Bill to enable the Payment Systems Regulator to require payment service providers (including banks) to reimburse APP scam victims. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive reimbursement for future APP scam victims