Revolut saw more fraud complaints in the second half of last year than any other U.K. bank, according to data seen by Bloomberg.
Fraud claims jumped by more than one-third from the first to the second half of the year, from 1,630 to 2,208, according to Bloomberg, citing information from the Financial Ombudsman Service.
While the FOS said in its annual complaints report that the total number of new complaints it received about the banking and payments sphere had reached the highest-level in a decade – and its highest-ever level of those associated with fraud and scams, at 27,000 claims – not all firms experienced such a sharp increase. Barclays, for one, had a 10% decrease in claims. Lloyds had a 3% decrease.
A Revolut spokesperson told Banking Dive that “[e]ach potential fraud case concerning a Revolut customer is carefully investigated and assessed independently of other cases,” and that the fintech “revisit[s] liability considerations as a result of complaints wherever any errors are identified during the complaints review.”
“Revolut takes fraud and the industry-wide risk of customers being coerced by organised criminals, incredibly seriously,” the spokesperson said. “We have robust protections in place for our millions of customers and analyse over half a billion transactions a month. Our security features include AI models, over 4,000 trained anti-financial crime professionals as well as experienced data scientists.”
In 2023, Revolut prevented about £475 million of potential fraud against its customers, the spokesperson said.
Revolut has been awaiting a U.K. banking license since 2021, and it’s been growing in the meantime. Last year, the fintech surpassed 30 million retail customers worldwide, and it recently committed to a 10-year lease in London’s Canary Wharf. CEO Nikolay Storonsky told CNBC early in July that the company is confident its U.K. license is coming down the pike.
Lenders like Revolut have found themselves subject to authorized push payment, or APP, scams, in which consumers are tricked into transferring funds to a scammer posing as a genuine payee.
In one such case, a Revolut customer identified by The Guardian as LG wrote to the newspaper’s money reporter Miles Brignall seeking advice on how to deal with the loss of £40,000 to a fraudster.
The fraudster had used a selfie – a security measure in place by Revolut – to successfully access, and drain, LG’s account. Revolut would not share that selfie with LG and stopped trying to recover LG’s funds after 10 days, LG claimed.
Brignall confirmed with Revolut that the fintech would not be refunding LG’s money.
“Revolut is not signed up to the contingent reimbursement model code (CRM code), a voluntary code for banks and financial firms that outlines when defrauded customers should get back their cash. As part of this, banks have promised to refund scam victims who have not been unduly negligent,” Brignall wrote.
Brignall suggested LG contact the FOS.
An FOS spokesperson did not return a request for comment from Banking Dive.
In nearly half of the cases against Revolut last year reviewed by the FOS, the ombudsman ordered the fintech to reimburse customer losses, according to data seen by Bloomberg.
