The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has shared final details for its mandatory APP reimbursement scheme which launches on 7 October 2024.

The UK payments watchdog said that the maximum level of reimbursement per claim will be set at £415,000 and will apply to all consumers.

Additionally, it revealed that sending payment firms can apply a claim excess of no more than £100 if they choose to.

The regulator said that the reimbursement limit is in line with the maximum award the Financial Ombudsman Service can make when considering complaints.

The PSR also outlined the circumstances in which a bank could reasonably consider a person has not been sufficiently careful.

It said that consumers should have regard to interventions, including warning messages from their bank, and should promptly notify their bank of suspected fraud.

The authority also called on victims of fraud to share information with their bank to help them assess a claim, whilst also consenting to the details of the crime being reported to the police.

But the organisation said that it will not be sufficient for a customer to have merely failed to meet one of these requirements, with the onus being on the bank to prove that they acted with gross negligence.

The PSR added that incidences of gross negligence would need to meet a "very high bar", explaining that it expects only a small minority of cases to be subject to this exception and that this would never apply to vulnerable consumers.

“The action we’re taking significantly increases the level of protection for people and puts the UK at the forefront of APP fraud protections globally," said Chris Hemsley, PSR managing director. "Our approach incentivises banks and other payment firms to prevent APP fraud from happening in the first place while ensuring victims are protected in a consistent way.

“Payment firms are already getting ready by improving fraud controls and more people are getting their money back. We now expect the momentum to implement the full protections to increase."

The regulator also published the three legal instruments which require Pay.UK and all payment firms that use Faster Payments Scheme (FPS) to implement the requirements of the reimbursement policy.

Alongside the new requirement to reimburse victims, the PSR said it is significantly increasing the incentives on all payment firms to do more to detect and prevent APP fraud from happening in the first place, including splitting the cost of reimbursement 50:50 between sending and receiving firms.

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