Revolut Faces More Fraud Complaints Than Any Other UK Bank

Will the staggering number of scam complaints jeopardise Revolut’s banking ambitions?

Revolut has come up on top – as far as UK fraud complaints go.

The alternative bank has been named in more fraud complaints in the UK than any other major bank in the country, according to an investigation from BBC Panorama.

The London-based bank was granted a provisional banking licence just this July, and was named in nearly 10,000 fraud complaints in just the past year, the investigation revealed.

This is over double the amount of complaints levied against its main rival Monzo, and 2,000 more than top competitor Barclays.

The findings could potentially risk the e-money company’s status as a registered bank as it struggles to confine itself under stricter regulations.

One man identified in the BBC research said fraudsters stole £165,000 from his Revolut account, which he says the bank refuses to refund.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is currently looking into that specific case, and received 3,500 complaints about Revolut in 2023, more than any other bank or similar firm.

While Revolut says it investigates each case fully, it may be facing a large price tag if its security protocols are subpar.

Just this month, new financial conduct rules have required banks to reimburse fraud victims. Most victims will be reimbursed automatically for values of £85,000, which will be split by sending and receiving banks. The same rules will apply to e-money firms as well, meaning that Revolut will have to pay up even if its provisional banking license is revoked.

Revolut could be feeding into the rise in scams and fraud, particularly authorised push payment (APP) scams.

These are scams where fraudsters trick customers into transferring money.

For every £1m deposited into Revolut accounts, about £756,000 was from APP fraud. This figure far outpaces that of other banks – Monzo, for instance, had £183,000 deposited as a result of APP fraud per £1m.

If Revolut is able to become a fully-fledged bank, its customers would be guaranteed up to £85,000 each if the firm were to fail.

Becoming a bank, however, would mean that Revolut could grant its customers credit, credit cards, overdrafts, and even mortgages, which could increase the financial risk of being scammed.

Revolut contends that it follows the same regulatory standards as traditional banks, and that it even cut fraud by 20% last year.

Independent regulators will decide the e-money firm’s fate, and have yet to comment on the findings