A new report shows Revolut faced more fraud complaints than any other major British bank last year as the financial firm raises doubts about the effectiveness of its security controls.
A BBC Panorama investigation found some Revolut customers claimed they were not protected when they were targeted by fraudsters.
According to a Freedom of Information request filed by Panorama, UK reporting center Action Fraud received 9,793 reports of fraud involving the Revolut name over the last year.
Fraud complaints: Some Revolut digital bank customers claimed they were unprotected when targeted by fraudsters
That's around 2,000 more than Barclays and Lloyds and double that of Monzo, a digital bank with around 10 million customers in the UK.
Revolut has over nine million customers in the UK and 45 million worldwide, but until recently it was still classified as an e-money institution in the UK.
In July, it announced that it had obtained a banking license in the UK after waiting three years for approval.
It is currently in the process of expanding its banking business and will eventually be able to hold customer deposits and offer lending products such as credit cards, personal loans and mortgages.
Revolut said it is aware that a “small number” of its customers have had a negative experience with the company, but it does not believe this is the case for “the vast majority of customers who continue to use Revolut products and services.”
“Revolut takes fraud and the industry-wide risk of customers being exploited by organized crime extremely seriously,” a spokesman said.
Nevertheless, one Revolut customer told the BBC that fraudsters stole £165,000 from his business account after he was tricked into sharing information and authorizing payments to fake accounts.
Jack, who did not want to give his surname, said that after contacting Revolut via the app's chat function, it took 23 minutes for him to contact the relevant department to freeze his account, during which time a further £67,000 was taken out.
He said he felt he was let down by the app's system, which did not automatically detect that a large number of transactions to a new recipient could constitute suspicious activity.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at consumer group Which?, said the investigation suggests that “some banks and payment companies are not taking fraud seriously enough.”
She said the government and regulators must make sure both payment companies and online platforms have implemented “significant measures” to protect consumers from fraudsters.
Revolut recently said that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, was responsible for 62% of all frauds reported to the company in the first half of 2024, and called on the tech giant to share the costs to fraud victims.
It also said it had prevented over £475 million in potential fraud losses to its customers globally in 2023.
“However, there will always be more work to do to address this cross-industry issue and we will continue to work to further reduce fraud rates,” the spokesperson said.
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