UK Payment Systems Regulator points to early gains from mandatory fraud repayments #

Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) says the first year of its authorised push payment (APP) scam reimbursement requirement has delivered measurable benefits for consumers, with more victims being repaid, faster resolution of claims and signs that firms are stopping more fraud before it happens.

Data from its quarterly reimbursement dashboard shows improving results since the rules took effect in October 2024. The PSR reports that 88% of money lost to APP scams and claimed back from a payment firm was returned to victims, up from 66% over the equivalent period in 2023/24.

Response times have also improved, the regulator says. Firms now settle around 84% of claims within five days and resolve almost all of them, 97%, within 35 days. The reimbursement rules apply to qualifying APP transactions made through the Faster Payments and CHAPS systems.

The PSR also noted a fall in the number of reported cases. Roughly 126,000 claims were made between October 2024 and June 2025, about 15% fewer than in the comparable window a year earlier. The regulator interprets this decline as evidence that payment firms have “stepped up” and are increasingly detecting and blocking fraudulent transactions at source.

The announcement was not entirely upbeat. The PSR notes that awareness of the policy remains low, with 71% of surveyed fraud victims unaware that the protection exists and 49% not attempting to claim reimbursement at all. Purchase fraud remains the most common scam type, accounting for almost 60% of cases, alongside increases in delivery, impersonation and charity fraud.

The regulator cautioned that direct comparisons with pre-policy data are difficult because of changes to methodology, including how an APP scam is defined. Its findings draw on survey work covering more than 1,400 UK adults plus an additional sample of fraud victims.

The PSR said its focus remains on fair treatment of victims, firm compliance and maintaining trust in digital payments. It confirmed that an independent evaluation of the regime is now under way, with a report expected in the spring that will consider whether any aspects of the policy should be revised.

Source: Payment Systems Regulator