HSBC UK has launched a fraud awareness app to provide companies with news on emerging scams in real-time as well as tips and advice.
According to HSBC UK, this makes it the first high-street bank to launch a free news-style mobile app to aid UK businesses in tackling fraud.
The HSBC Fraud and Cyber Awareness app will send users notifications on new scams and fraud tactics and will offer advice and tips on how to avoid falling victim to fraud and provide real-life stories from customers.
The app will be available in both the Apple Store and Google Play Store for iOS and Android users.
The introduction of the fraud awareness app may fill a much-needed gap in the market – with the UK’s National Crime Agency previously highlighting fraud costs the UK private sector over $140bn per year.
Data from HSBC UK Commercial Banking has found that the most common scams inflicted on business customers during 2020 included purchase scams, invoice and mandate scams, impersonation scams and investment scams.
HSBC UK Commercial Banking head of small business banking Peter McIntyre said, “It is our absolute priority to protect our customers from unscrupulous criminals who target businesses for their own financial gain and we constantly update and evolve our processes to stop these criminals and prevent customers falling victim to scams.
“We’ve launched this app to go one step further and help all UK businesses, not just our own customers, knowledge is power, and we want to help businesses be as prepared as possible to stop these fraudsters in their tracks.
“We firmly believe that by arming businesses with this latest information and advice they will be better placed to spot frauds and scams before they have parted with any of their hard-earned funds.”
HSBC and Barclays recently railed against open banking reforms as the amount they have spent to share customer data with smaller rivals has been ‘significantly higher’ than original estimates.
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