New measures aim to 'break the spell' of fraudsters

14 Mar 2024

New measures aim to 'break the spell' of financial fraudsters by giving payment providers more time, according to draft legislation published by the government.

Until now, payment service providers such as banks have generally been required to process payments by the end of the following business day, giving a limited timeline to investigate and alert relevant parties to possible fraud.

The draft legislation will give payment service providers a further 72 hours to investigate payments, but only where there are reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or dishonesty. The legislation has been designed to minimise any impact on legitimate payments.

The UK has seen an increase in authorised push payment fraud over the past few years – in 2022 victims lost £485 million to these scams.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, said: 'Fraudsters spin whole webs of lies and fabricate all sorts of things to convince people to send them money – this legislation will give banks, other payment service providers and law enforcement more time to get in touch with victims and break the fraudster's spell before money is sent.

'The government is absolutely committed to tackling fraud and recognises the impact of this devastating crime on victims – this legislation is another tool in our arsenal to fight fraud.'

icaew logo acca logo sage logo sageone logo bas xero

Home | Contact us | Accessibility | Disclaimer | Help | Site map | © 2024 Madisons. All rights reserved.

We use cookies on this website, you can find more information about cookies here.

Madisons is a trading name of Madison Business Services Limited Registered office: Bushbury House, 435 Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester, M20 4AF. Company Number: 03800186, VAT Registration Number: 741 1182 67 Registered to carry on audit work in the UK and regulated for a range of investment business activities by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Details about our Audit Registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk.
Telephone: 0161 434 3535 | Fax: 0161 445 0430 | Email: enquiries@madisons.co.uk.

Address
Madisons, Bushbury House, 435 Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester, Lancashire M20 4AF