The UK’s fight against payment fraud has advanced significantly over the past year, with victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams receiving £243 million in reimbursement by the end of 2025, according to the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) latest annual report.
The regulator says its work over the past 12 months has focused on strengthening consumer protection, increasing competition within the payments sector and improving the resilience of the UK’s payment infrastructure.
One of the report’s most notable findings is the impact of the UK’s mandatory APP fraud reimbursement framework. Alongside the £243 million repaid to scam victims, the PSR reports a reduction in the types of fraud covered by the reimbursement policy, suggesting wider fraud prevention measures are beginning to have an effect.
The regulator has also continued publishing fraud performance data to improve transparency and enable consumers to compare how payment providers perform in preventing and responding to APP fraud.
Elsewhere, the PSR demonstrated its willingness to enforce compliance by fining Bank of Ireland UK in February 2026 after it failed to meet the implementation deadline for Confirmation of Payee (CoP). The account verification service has become an increasingly important defence against payment redirection scams by allowing customers to confirm they are sending money to the intended recipient before authorising a transfer.
The report also highlights the continued growth of open banking, with payment volumes increasing by 53% during 2025 and more than 16 million people now using open banking services. As adoption accelerates, fraud prevention professionals will increasingly need to balance customer convenience with robust authentication, identity verification and transaction monitoring.
Beyond fraud prevention, the PSR continues to work alongside HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on the UK’s long-term payments strategy. Planned improvements to Faster Payments, Bacs and wider retail payment infrastructure are intended to support greater resilience, competition and innovation across the sector.
The report also marks an important milestone in UK payments regulation, with legislation introduced to Parliament that will see the PSR’s responsibilities transferred to the FCA. While the regulatory structure is changing, the PSR says its existing powers and focus on secure, competitive payment systems will be maintained.
For payment providers and merchant fraud teams, the report signals that regulatory expectations around fraud prevention, reimbursement, transparency and customer protection are likely to remain high as the UK’s payments landscape continues to evolve.
Photo by Anastassia Anufrieva on Unsplash
