The government is planning to introduce legislation to extend the time that payments can be delayed by 72 hours where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a payment is fraudulent and more time is needed for the bank to investigate. 

Currently banks must either process or refuse a payment by the end of the next business day. 

This will ensure banks have more time to investigate potential fraud, helping to protect consumers against scams in a bid to tackle the estimated £460m lost to fraud last year alone. 

Economic secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq said: ‘Hundreds of millions of pounds are lost to scammers each year, targeting vulnerable communities and ruining the lives of ordinary people.