Fintech calls for anti-fraud tax to tackle scamming epidemic
Tide has argued the government should introduce an anti-fraud tax to fund the battle against fraud as the fintech firm criticised the lack of ambition in the recently released fraud strategy.
Although Tide – which provides mobile banking services for SME businesses – welcomed the creation of a National Fraud Squad, it argued it was “nowhere near enough” to tackle “Britain’s fraud epidemic.”
“The target to cut fraud by only 10 per cent by the end of 2024 with another 400 police officers is nowhere near enough to combat the sheer scale of the problem and the damage done,” Tide’s chief executive Oliver Prill said.
According to UK Finance data, over £1.2bn was stolen by fraudsters in 2022 making the UK the “fraud capital of the world”.
Anti-fraud tax
To bolster the defence against fraud, Tide argued there should be an anti-fraud tax which could help fund and train more police officers.
The tax would be levied across the value chain, including on social media and telecom companies where the majority of fraud starts. UK Finance data shows nearly 80 per cent of authorised push payment fraud originates online.
Alongside the anti-fraud tax, Tide suggested that police be forced to investigate and prosecute scammers.
Tide also argued that plans to force financial institutions to reimburse victims of fraud should be reconsidered.
“Instead of guaranteeing returns to fraudsters through mandatory reimbursement, such money, alongside an anti-fraud tax, should be invested in fraud prevention and prosecution,” Prill said.
Debates around reimbursements have been a controversial aspect of the government’s fraud strategy.
Plans to force big tech companies to reimburse victims of fraud were watered down in the eventual policy, drawing criticism from many in the financial sector who feel tech companies need to be incentivised to clean up their sites.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government is absolutely committed to cracking down on scams and we continue to work intensively with partners across government, law enforcement and industry to protect the public from fraud.
“The Fraud Strategy sets out how we will block scams at source, bring offenders to justice, shut down fraudulent infrastructure and ensure the public have the advice and support they need,” the spokesperson continued.