Revolut has called on social media giant Meta to commit to sharing reimbursement of fraud victims, arguing that its recently announced data-sharing partnership with UK banks and financial institutions falls woefully short.
Revolut, which has 10 million UK customers and 45m globally, finds in a new report that Meta platforms such as Facebook remained the main source of all scams reported to Revolut in H1 2024 (62%), with no significant change compared with H2 2023 (64%).
Following the announcement that Meta is to launch a data-sharing partnership with UK banks and financial institutions to prevent fraud, Revolut says it is “deeply concerned that the initiative does not address what’s required to tackle fraud”.
“The emphasis is once again being placed on financial institutions to supply data on scams seen on Meta platforms, rather than Meta investing more to monitor their own sites,” the firm stated.
It added: “This initiative is only focused on the UK, when fraud is a global issue impacting consumers and businesses across many countries.”
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It also pointed to a lack of a commitment to share in the reimbursement of victims defrauded on Meta platforms, despite the company potentially profiting from fake and fraudulent adverts.
“These plans are baby steps, when what the industry really needs is giant leaps forward,” said Revolut’s head of financial crime Woody Malouf. “Victims and financial institutions still ultimately bear the cost.
“These platforms share no responsibility in reimbursing victims, and so they have no incentive to do anything about it. A commitment to data sharing, albeit needed, simply isn’t good enough.
“We are confident in the steps the UK government is taking to tackle fraud, but what is urgently needed now is for Meta and other social media companies to commit to supporting victims of fraud in the same way financial institutions do. Their silence on this issue says it all.
“We are prepared to do our part to keep customers safe, and so should they. We should be the last line of defence, not the only line of defence.”
Meanwhile, following the news that banks will have the power to pause payments for up to four days in suspected fraud cases, a key figure at data and payments FinTech Moneyhub likened the approach to a ‘sticking plaster solution’.
Mark Munson, MD of payments at the Bristol-based firm, said it reveals a critical flaw. “Banks are focused on slowing down payments rather than cutting off fraud at its source,” he said.
“If fraudsters can still open accounts and move stolen money through the financial system, simply pausing payments is a band-aid solution. We need real reform: stricter KYC controls, collaboration from social media platforms and national digital identity infrastructure to stop fraudsters from entering the system in the first place.
“The solution lies in prevention, not just delay.”