The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published a consultation on a proposed specific direction on payment service providers (PSPs) that participate in Faster Payments, it said. The consultation closed on 19 October 20231.
The PSR said the specific direction "will underpin the faster payments reimbursement rules" and described it as "one of three proposed legal instruments we will use to implement the policy"1. It consulted on the other two legal instruments in July 20231. The regulator published its policy statement setting out the new authorised push payment (APP) fraud reimbursement requirement in June 20231.
"It sets out a path to reducing the impact of this type of fraud, by making sure more victims of fraud get their money back, but also by prompting a step change in fraud prevention."
The PSR said the document is relevant to "the payments industry, consumer groups, payment service providers, and prospective qualifying customers who use Authorised Push Payments to send money and will be within scope of the policy, once implemented"1. The consultation document was updated on 18 October 2023 to include corrections to questions 1 to 3 in the Question Summary section1.
Two supplementary files accompanied the consultation: a comparison of the reimbursement requirement directions dated September 2023, and draft reimbursement scheme rules for Faster Payments prepared by Pay.UK1.
Why it matters for households
The direction concerns people who send money by Faster Payments and fall within the scope of the APP fraud reimbursement policy once it is implemented1. APP fraud involves a victim being tricked into authorising a payment to a fraudster, and the PSR's stated aim is that more victims get their money back1. The consultation set out the legal mechanism that would sit behind the reimbursement rules for PSPs participating in Faster Payments, rather than the reimbursement entitlement itself, which was covered in the June 2023 policy statement1. The PSR has not reported in this document the date on which the reimbursement requirement takes effect, the maximum reimbursement level, or which customers count as qualifying; those details are not given here.
What happens next
The consultation closed on 19 October 20231. The PSR said it has published its response to the consultation1. The Payment Systems Regulator has not reported in this document any further steps or dates beyond that response.
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