Payments watchdog wants open banking to ‘inject more competition’ into card market June 27, 2023 The UK’s payments regulator today argued that the card market did not have “sufficient competition”, but suggested progress on open banking could open it up to a wave of innovation. Chris Hemsley, managing director of the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), said the watchdog was looking to find ways of “injecting more competition into this market [...]
Plan to tackle fraud makes UK ‘less attractive’ for investment, payments lobby group warns June 26, 2023 The UK’s payments industry is under threat from proposals designed to tackle fraud, the main payments body has warned. In a letter to Lord Dominic Johnson, minister of state for investment, the Payments Association – which represents over 300 payments firms – warned “some regulators regulate in a way that stifles the growth of our [...]
Banks tell Sunak that big tech firms need to do more to tackle fraud June 18, 2023 A group of the UK’s largest banks have told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that big tech firms should help contribute to the reimbursement of fraud victims. According to Sky News, the banks said the rising tide of fraud in the UK is having a “material impact on how attractive the wider UK financial sector is [...]
TSB calls on Meta to make ‘urgent’ interventions on fraud or consumers risk losing up to £250m June 14, 2023 TSB Bank has called on Meta to make urgent interventions to protect consumers from spiralling levels of fraud with customers at risk of losing hundreds of millions of pounds. According to current industry projects, consumers could lose up to £250m from Meta platforms in 2023 without action from the tech giant. Earlier this year, TSB [...]
Have you seen him? City boss gets 14 years over £70m Ponzi scheme – but is on the run June 9, 2023 A City boss compared to the The Wolf Of Wall Street has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in his absence over a £70 million Ponzi-style investment scam. Anthony Constantinou, 41, went on the run during his seven-week Southwark Crown Court trial and is thought to be in Turkey or Dubai after being stopped in [...]
Watchdog sets out new rules to reimburse APP fraud victims in ‘world first’ June 7, 2023 The Payment System Regulatory (PSR) has confirmed new rules that will force banks and payment companies to reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud. Following consultation, the regulator has set out how mandatory reimbursement will work in practice. It said the new rules will prompt a “step change” in how firms approach fraud prevention. [...]
‘Antiquated technology’ scuppering fraud threat response at over three quarters of retail banks June 1, 2023 Retail banks worldwide are struggling to upgrade their defences against fraud despite the increasing threat of financial crime. According to data collected for BioCatch, 78 per cent of financial firms worldwide are concerned about their ability to respond to emerging fraud threats quickly and effectively. The report revealed how lenders feel impelled to boost defences [...]
Blockchain and Britcoin could bolster fight against ‘fraud epidemic’, experts argue May 29, 2023 The digital pound could be an important weapon in regulators’ fight against the rising tide of fraud, experts have argued. With the widespread scale of scams in the UK, Quant’s chief executive Gilbert Verdian said “we need a complete reset”. Quant builds technology for blockchains, including those underlying central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to [...]
Big tech and banks conspire in new scheme to combat fraud May 23, 2023 An alliance of banks, tech companies and telecoms groups are set to pilot a new scheme to collect information on scammers as attempts to tackle the UK’s fraud epidemic step up a notch. The new group, Stop Scams UK, has members including the UK’s largest incumbent banks, challenger banks, telecoms providers and big tech firms. [...]
Fintech calls for anti-fraud tax to tackle scamming epidemic May 11, 2023 Tide has argued the government should introduce an anti-fraud tax to fund the battle against fraud as the fintech firm criticised the lack of ambition in the recently released fraud strategy. Although Tide – which provides mobile banking services for SME businesses – welcomed the creation of a National Fraud Squad, it argued it was [...]