PS18/22: Authorised push payment fraud – extending the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Read PS18/22 (PDF)

The policy changes intend to provide victims of alleged authorised push payment (APP) fraud (where they are eligible complainants, see DISP 2.7 in our handbook) with prompt and fair complaints resolution, and access to dispute resolution through the Financial Ombudsman Service for complaints against payment service providers (PSPs) who receive payments relating to the alleged fraud.

These final rules will take effect on 31 January 2019.

To meet the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) requirements, we also extended the Financial Ombudsman Service’s compulsory jurisdiction to include complaints by a payer about a payee’s PSP’s cooperation with the payer’s PSP to recover funds from a payment transaction where incorrect details had been provided.

These requirements on misdirected payments will take effect upon publication on 14 December 2018. They apply to complaints about acts or omissions from 13 January 2018.

Background

APP fraud is where a fraudster tricks a payer into making an APP to an account controlled by that fraudster. This differs from other kinds of fraud, such as where a fraudster steals money from an account without the owner of the account knowing, because in APP, the account owner authorises the payment, albeit under false pretences.

In June 2018, we published CP 18/16 which set out proposed changes to our complaints handling rules to reduce the harm experienced by victims of APP fraud. We proposed requiring payment service providers (PSPs) to handle complaints about alleged fraud relating to funds they have received as a result of APPs in line with the Dispute Resolution: Complaints sourcebook (DISP). We also proposed to allow eligible complainants to refer these complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The Financial Ombudsman Service also proposed mirroring the new requirements in its voluntary jurisdiction. We have jointly issued the CP and PS with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Who this applies to

This Policy Statement will primarily be of interest to:

• consumers and micro-enterprises
• consumer groups
• payment service providers and credit unions
• industry representative bodies

What you need to do

Firms should note the Handbook changes in the Policy Statement and adapt their practices accordingly.