Guavapay Statement for Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud

last updated: February 18, 2025

We aim to protect our customers from all types of fraud. As part of this, we wanted to let you know about new rules that could help you if you were to have your money stolen through an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam. These rules came into effect on 7 October 2024.

How we manage claims for Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud

Authorised Push Payment (APP) is where a scammer misleads you into sending your own money via bank transfer to an account outside your control, either because they’ve pretended to be someone you intended to pay, or they tricked you into making a payment for a purpose that you didn’t intend.

How Guavapay reimburses customers who make APP fraud claims depends on the following information.

Transactions before 7 October 2024

We are here to help and want you to tell us if you’ve been scammed straight away, even if you may not be covered by the new rules. We will still investigate any claims on a case-by-case basis and you may still be entitled to a refund.

Transactions from 7 October 2024 onwards

These transactions are assessed under the new mandatory reimbursement regulations. These rules are set by Pay.UK under the direction of the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). 

Guavapay will refund eligible claims up to a maximum of £85,000 where the transactions are made:

● to a UK account via Faster Payments or CHAPS; and

● from a UK personal bank account, micro-enterprise account or some eligible charities’ accounts.

There is no limit to the amount of claims a customer can make under these new rules. Provided the fraudulent payment was made by the victim and it fulfils the eligibility criteria as outlined above, all legitimate transactions will be considered for reimbursement. 

A claim must be raised as soon as possible and in any case within 13 months of the final payment made to a fraudster as part of the same scam. Any information we request from you to properly look into your claim must be submitted as soon as possible.

Guavapay won’t assess your claim under the new rules where the payments: 

● are made by cheque, cash, card or made to or from an account outside the UK;

● are to your own account held at another bank or an account which you control;

● were for unlawful purposes, for example if you were purchasing something illegal; and/or

● are part of a civil dispute.

Equally, you may not be entitled to benefit from the rules where you've ignored warnings provided by us or the police that the payment was likely to be a scam, or you've acted fraudulently.

If your claim is successful, Guavapay will reimburse the eligible funds within 5 working days from the date of our final decision. In some cases, it may take up to 35 working days to receive a decision. This may happen if Guavapay needs to ask you for more information.

If Guavapay reimburses you, Guavapay may not pay the first £100 per claim as excess. For example, if you raise a claim for £1,000 then Guavapay may reimburse £900.

The Consumer Standard of Caution

All customers must fully comply with Guavapay’s and any other national authorities’ (such as the police) instructions or requests when making a claim for reimbursement. If you have not met the below standard, you may be found to be grossly negligent and denied reimbursement. This is our Consumer Standard of Caution. 

You should: 

● Have regard to interventions: If your payment request triggers Guavapay’s scam warning flows or any other types of interventions (whether from Guavapay or national authorities), you must be truthful in all answers to questions presented to you and you should have due regard to such interventions.

● Report a scam to us as soon as possible: If you do not report the fraud to us within 13 months of the last transaction taking place, then Guavapay may not reimburse you.

● Provide information to help with your claim if we ask for it: If you have potentially been defrauded, then you must provide all relevant information requested in order to assess the claim. This includes screenshots, information about the scammers and where the fraud originated. If you do not provide information that we request, then Guavapay may not reimburse you.

● Report the scam to the police or allow us to report on your behalf: Guavapay may wish to raise the issue with competent national authorities such as the police. Guavapay are able to make this claim on your behalf, unless you want to make it yourself or already have done before raising a claim.

More information about these rules is available on the  Pay.UK and PSR website.