PSR APP (Authorised Push Payment) Scam Reimbursement Scope

Under the mandatory reimbursement requirement introduced by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) live from October 7, 2024, if you have been the victim of an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam, you have the right to be reimbursed subject to eligibility criteria. This will only be applicable for authorised payments made on or after October 7, 2024.

Under this protection, if a fraudster tricks you into sending money from your account to another account, which is controlled by someone else, you may be entitled to a refund.

The new rules also require you to take steps to protect yourself from fraud, known as The Consumer Standard of Caution. You should always:

• Take note of fraud prevention alerts.
• Report the fraud as soon as possible to the Payment Service Provider (PSP).
• Share all relevant information when reporting a fraud, to assist with assessing a claim.
• Upon request, report the fraud to the police or consent the PSP to do so on your behalf.

Background:

• The policy is applicable to individuals; micro-enterprises and charities* where an authorised push payment has been made using the Faster Payment scheme within the UK and has been sent to a ‘relevant’ UK account (as defined in Specific Direction 20 as published by the PSR).

• Claims are assessed on a case-by-case basis, along with any supporting documents from either yourself or the receiving bank. There are also exclusions that could apply which are listed in our ‘Exclusions to Policy’ section below.

• Any payments made on or after 7^th October 2024 are applicable as per the requirement. Any payments made before this will be deemed out of scope.

• Additionally, if a claim is raised with multiple payments around the 7^th October 2024, only payments made on or after this date will be eligible for reimbursement. Any other payments made within a claim before 7^th October 2024 will be reviewed independently as per the Bank’s discretion.

• Payments that are in scope of the policy will have been made via Faster Payment or CHAPS

• The claim must be raised within 13 months of the final payment being made as part of the scam.

• The maximum APP scam claim under the PSR’s reimbursement requirement is £85,000.

• The Bank may levy an excess of £100 per claim.

• Payment Service Providers (PSPs) must provide an outcome and reimbursement of the claim (subject to review) within five business days. In some cases, a further investigation will be required, therefore PSPs can exercise the ‘stop the clock’ provision.

*Micro-enterprise which has less than 10 employees and has either an annual turnover or balance sheet total which does not exeed €2 million); and a charity which has an annual income less than £1million per year and is a charity as defined by the Charities Act 2011, Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 or Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008).

Exclusions to policy:

There are factors that could be categorised as exclusions to the reimbursement requirement as set out by the PSR. These can include but are not limited to:

• Payments made before 7^th October 2024

• Claims made over 13 months after the last scam payment was made

• First party fraud

• Payments outside of the UK (International Payments)

• Gross negligence

• Civil Disputes

• Payments made via debit card, cash or cheques

• Unauthorised payments – you have not made or authorised the payment/s.

• Any payments that have been made to your own account in your control

• Payments which are sent or received by credit unions, national savings banks or municipal banks

Vulnerable customers:

At ICICI Bank UK, we understand that some of our customers are more susceptible of becoming a victim of fraud, and can affect anyone at any point in time whether this is long term or at a specific period in their life. To help us best support your needs, we may ask certain questions with your permission and will note any specific banking requirements you may have.

In addition to assessing vulnerability, we will also factor in any financial impact of applying the excess to the claim where this may impact our customers financially.

Report a scam:

If you have fallen victim to a scam, please call 0344 412 4444 (24 hours, 7 days a week)
Or send an Email to ukservice@icicibank.com, If you're outside the UK, call: +44 203 478 5319.

Calls to this number use free plan minutes if available, otherwise they cost the same as 01/02 prefix calls), or you can visit one of our UK branches. However, we recommend calling our customer service team as it is accessible 24/7.

In addition, please note calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

Whilst we receive and process your scam claim, please also report this to the Police and/or Action Fraud (a service run by City of London Police working alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau) which is the national reporting centre for fraud and scams within the UK. Once you have registered your report, please provide us with your Action Fraud reference number, which we will add to your claim.

What to expect next:

1. Case Reference
You will receive a case reference number once the claim has been logged. Please keep a note of this for your records. You may need to include this in correspondence regarding your claim.

2. Investigation
An investigator may contact you to obtain further details to ensure we can provide this to the receiving Bank. This could include information and/or supporting documentation. We would attempt to call your registered number however if unavailable then we will also contact via your registered email address. Please note we will never ask you to confirm any personal information via email.

3. Outcome
We aim to provide a response to you on the claim within 5 business days, however sometimes the claim may require further investigations, therefore in some cases a final response could take up to 35 business days. We understand that this is a difficult time, therefore we will ensure you receive updates throughout the claim journey. You will receive a reimbursement for the claim in line with the policy (subject to exclusions), the amount of which is subject to the excess of £100.

How to protect yourself against APP Scams, click here to Know more

Further Guidance:

If you feel dissatisfied with the outcome of your claim, you are able to use the existing complaints process including any further escalations to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).