The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has launched a consultation on the technical process that banks and buildings will need to follow as part of new reporting rules for authorised push payment (APP) scams.

Authorised push payment (APP) scams happen when fraudsters trick someone into sending a payment to a bank account controlled by the fraudster.

The move comes after the organisation consulted on a set of new measures focused on the publication of scam data, intelligence sharing, and mandatory reimbursement for APP scam victims in November last year.

In the first six months of the year there were more than 95,000 incidents of APP scams, with losses totalling nearly £250 million.

The PSR said that its latest consultation, which explores the technical process for the collection of scam data, will show for the first time "how well lenders are protecting their customers".

The data that the authority will require banks and building societies to provide will cover the proportion of victims who are left fully or partially out of pocket, as well as the rates of APP scams happening at both sending and receiving banks or building societies.

The regulator says that the publication of this data will "dramatically increase" the information available to customers about how well their bank or building society is doing in tackling scams and reimbursing victims.

“Banks and building societies should be transparent not only about how many of their customers have fallen victim to an APP scam, but also how they have treated those people,” said Kate Fitzgerald, PSR head of policy. “As well as giving customers more information to choose which bank or building society they want to use, the publication of this data will encourage banks and building societies to do more to help people.”

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