Canary Wharf-based fintech Revolut has today introduced in-app calls for customers as the firm aims to increase the security of its current accounts.
The new feature targets impersonation scams in which criminals pretend to be a representative of a bank to gain access to sensitive details about their victim’s account, compromising their savings.
The feature seeks to drive down the success rate of these scams by providing a secure method for Revolut employees to speak to customers that scammers cannot hijack.
The fintech, which has more than 10 million customers in the UK and 50 million across the globe, has struggled with high volumes of fraud complaints in the past.
Reports in October last year showed that it was named in more fraud complaints than any major UK bank as some customers, being named in nearly 10,000 complaints last year – around 2,000 more than Barclays and over double that of Monzo.
These came as customers had difficulty contacting the bank when they realised that money was being stolen from their account.
One customer, who had £165,000 stolen from his Revolut business account, said that he had to wait 20 minutes for support through the app’s chat function after finding out there was no helpline to call, according to BBC Panorama.
The bank says that it takes the issue “very seriously” and says it has “invested heavily” into its Financial Crime team, which now numbers over 10,000 and makes up a third of its total global workforce.
Revolut’s Head of Financial Crime Woody Malouf, said “Impersonation scams can be a major hazard for many consumers.”
“We know that the most effective way to stop a scam is to break the spell as fast as possible, before any money has been transferred. That’s why we are providing for our customers innovative solutions that help them uncover a scam quickly.”
“Speaking to someone through our app means customers can be 100% sure they are talking to Revolut and not a fraudster”.
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