TSB has announced a guarantee that its 5.2 million customers will be refunded if they are an innocent victim of fraud – whether it’s unauthorised transactions on their accounts or customers tricked into authorising payments to fraudsters, typically over the phone or online.
TSB’s Executive Chairman, Richard Meddings said: “The vast majority of fraud claims across UK banking are from innocent victims of fraud, who have been targeted by criminals and organised gangs. However, all too often these customers must fight to be refunded and are not treated as victims of crime.
“We want to provide peace of mind to our customers, that’s why we’re proud to announce the TSB Fraud Refund Guarantee. If a TSB customer innocently suffers a fraud loss on their account after being targeted by a criminal, we’ll cover it.”
The bank describes bank fraud as a rapidly growing problem and admits that customers have only been refunded for fraud losses in limited circumstances.
TSB is also launching fraud education workshops for customers and non-customers. As well as being hosted across TSB’s network of over 500 branches, the bank will host workshops in:
Birmingham,
Maestag, South Wales
Midsomer Norton, Somerset
Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire
Kirkaldy, Fife
Lincoln
Romsey, Hampshire
Hull, East Yorkshire
Preston
Bluewater, Kent
Horsham, West Sussex.
Among the small print, the bank says that the conditions of the guarantee may be adjusted to guard against abuse or to help prevent and prosecute fraud. TSB will not refund losses for retrospective claims; that is, before April 14; nor if you repeatedly ignore account safety advice.
Some banks have signed up to an ‘Authorised Push Payment Scams Voluntary Code‘ due to come in from May 28.
Comment
Alex Boothroyd, Senior Banking Fraud Solutions Specialist, SAS UK and Ireland said: “With £1.2bn lost to bank fraud in 2018, TSB has shown initiative and taken responsibility by introducing its fraud refund guarantee. However, more must be done to stop financial crime before customers become victims.
“Companies should be making a greater effort to leverage technology to combat scams and provide a safety net to customers who fall for highly sophisticated criminal techniques. However, a sluggishness to implement suitable measures could cost banks millions if they simply deal with the repercussions of fraudulent activity rather than tackle the issue from the very start. While banks should continue to educate customers about the techniques scammers use, technology will play an increasingly vital role in foiling fraud.
“AI-powered fraud prevention can help relieve the burden on customer fraud teams at banks and increase the accuracy of detection. As fraudsters become better equipped and use more advanced tools, businesses need to make sure they stay ahead of the curve to retain customer trust while also saving millions of pounds. AI provides the capabilities to keep businesses and their customers safer from fraud.”
