The bank named in more fraud complaints than any major UK competitor
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Last year, Revolut, an online banking service, received more fraud-related complaints than any of the major banks in the UK. This has led some customers to raise concerns about the level of protection they have against scammers.
A recent report raises concerns about how effective the financial firm's security measures are.
In the past year, Action Fraud, the UK's fraud reporting agency, recorded 9,793 cases of fraud involving Revolut. This information was revealed through a freedom of information request made by BBC Panorama.
This figure was approximately 2,000 higher than what Barclays and Lloyds reported, and it was twice as many as the number of mentions for Monzo, a digital bank that serves around 10 million customers in the UK.
Revolut boasts over nine million customers in the UK and 45 million globally, but until just recently, it was still categorized as an electronic money entity in the UK.
In July, it announced that it had finally obtained a banking license in the UK following a three-year process to gain approval.
The company is in the midst of developing its banking services and will soon be able to accept customer deposits and provide various lending options, such as credit cards, personal loans, and mortgages.
Revolut acknowledged that a “minority” of its customers have faced issues with the company. However, it believes that this does not reflect the experience of the “overwhelming majority of users who still appreciate Revolut’s offerings.”
A spokesperson stated that Revolut is highly vigilant about the threat of fraud and the widespread risk of customers being pressured by organized crime.
Despite this, a Revolut customer shared with the BBC that he lost £165,000 from his business account due to scammers. He was deceived into providing sensitive information and approving payments to fraudulent accounts.
Jack, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared that it took him 23 minutes to connect with the appropriate team to freeze his account after reaching out to Revolut through their in-app chat. Unfortunately, during that time, an additional £67,000 was withdrawn.
He expressed that he felt let down by the app's systems, which didn't automatically recognize that numerous transactions to a new payee might indicate questionable activity.
Rocio Concha, the director of policy and advocacy at the consumer organization Which?, indicated that the findings of the investigation imply that “certain banks and payment companies are not treating fraud with the seriousness it deserves.”
She emphasized that the government and regulatory bodies must ensure that payment companies and online platforms implement effective strategies to safeguard consumers against fraudsters.
Revolut recently revealed that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was involved in 62% of the scams reported to them in the first half of 2024. The company is urging the tech giant to contribute to compensating victims of fraud.
It also noted that it helped customers around the world avoid potential fraud losses exceeding £475 million in 2023.
"However, there will always be additional efforts needed to address this widespread problem across various industries, and we remain committed to further lowering fraud rates," the representative stated.
