Assessing outcomes of the APP Fraud Code

The PSR, LSB and FOS have concluded that thebanks’ voluntary APP (Authorised Push Payment) Fraud Code has not resulted inthe levels of reimbursement to scam victims they would have expected. Denis O’Connor examines their findings onhow the Code is not working effectively for customers.

Denis O’Connorisa fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Walesand the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment. He was a member ofthe British Bankers’ Association Money Laundering Committee from 2003-10 and amember of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group’s board and editorial panelbetween 2010 and 2016. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferenceson financial crime issues, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

In a recent conference call with industryparticipants, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) expressed its disappointmentat how customers were being treated under the APP Fraud Code (the Code). Thisconclusion was supported, a few weeks later, by the Lending Standards Board(LSB) who formed the view that the nine participating banking groups needed tomake a number of improvements in how they gave effect to the Code’srequirements.