The Banque de France has decided to tackle a growing problem: the refusal of banks to reimburse their customers in the event of scams. Very often, the latter use the excuse of strong authentication to accuse the victims of negligence. From now on, this argument will no longer work.
In 2021, the Banque de France recalled the basics in terms of fraud: your bank obliged to reimburse you when a transfer was made from your account without your agreement. At least, on one condition: the victim must not have been negligent. However, this exception is now widely used by banks to avoid going to the checkout. To date, only between 70% and 80% of scams are reimbursed. A difference which is explained above all by the democratization of strong authentication.
Since the implementation of this technology, banks are indeed much more inclined to accuse their customers of negligence in the event of fraud, considering that they themselves participated in the scam to which they were victims. All this in a context that wants to be more and more threatening for users, while the number of strong authentication scams has skyrocketed in recent years. Also, the Banque de France has finally decided to tackle the problem.
Related — Credit Card Fraud: Hackers Have Found a New Way to Hack ATMs
Strong authentication will no longer be an excuse for banks not to reimburse you
Following round tables organized between October 2022 and February 2023, the Banque de France finally published this Tuesday, May 16 a new list of recommendations, intended both for banks and their customers. Among the 13 points discussed, one in particular concerns strong authentication and the refusal of reimbursement. The Banque de France thus recalls that this system is not infallible, and that a customer can be manipulated by a scammer without the latter being accused of negligence.
In other words, it will now be much more difficult for banks to use this argument to avoid reimbursement fraud. These 13 recommendations “illustrate the commitment of all members of OMSP to meet two great needs” according to François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the institution. “On the one hand, collectively intensify our actions to prevent and fight against fraud; and on the other hand, to provide clarified and harmonized responses to victims of fraud”.
