Our Fraud Guarantee

Our Fraud Guarantee works to protect you and your money when you bank with us, whether that's online, via the app, over the phone or in branch.

If you happen to fall victim to fraudulent activity, we guarantee to refund your loss as long as you've not acted fraudulently, you've taken reasonable steps to keep your details safe and taken sufficient care to check that the person or company you are dealing with are genuine.

How we help

However you choose to bank with us, you can be sure you are protected. Our fraud prevention methods include:

• We use advanced technologies and specially developed fraud detection systems to spot unusual activity on your account
• We use verification codes and security tokens as they provide you with an additional layer of protection when you bank online and make payments.
• We also use a timed logout system on our online banking service. This means that after a certain period of inactivity, you will be automatically logged out of online banking
• We offer free security software to protect you when you use online banking
• We use a secure automated message service to contact you if we're worried about a payment you've issued.

When paying someone new we will check that you're confident about who you are paying. We'll do this by guiding you through tailored information about the type of payment you're making. If you don't want to continue or you're unsure about making the payment, you'll have the option to cancel it and contact us to discuss your concerns.

How you can protect yourself

We are proud to have signed up to the Contingent Reimbursement Model, a voluntary code that aims to offer our customers better protection from Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams.

An APP scam happens when you are deceived into transferring funds (through Faster Payment or CHAPS) to someone, or you transfer funds for what you believe is a genuine purpose, and this turns out to be fraudulent.

We do everything we can to keep your money safe and secure. However, there are common threats that you can be aware of and some simple steps you can take to help protect yourself from fraud.

If you are asked to make a payment, it is your responsibility to make sure the request is genuine before you authorise it. Please be aware of seemingly random requests to move money, or requests that are from people or companies you haven't dealt with before. If this happens, it is often a sign that you are being tricked.

Each situation will be assessed on an individual basis. However, we are not likely to refund you if:

• You have not adhered to the security requirements set out in the terms and conditions of your account
• You've not exercised all due care and diligence to check that the person or company you are dealing with is genuine
• You fail to keep your card and PIN safe
• You fail to keep your online and telephone banking passwords safe. It's important that you never tell anyone your verification code.
• You fail to let us know as soon as possible of any security breach or potential security problem, e.g. the loss of your card
• You have provided us with incorrect payments instructions
• You have not exercised all due care and diligence when allowing an authorised Third Party Provider (TPP) access to your account
• You have acted fraudulently.

If you believe you are a victim of fraud, contact us immediately.

Remember that a genuine bank or organisation will never contact you randomly to ask for your PIN, full password or to move money to another account as part of an investigation.

Don't give out personal or financial details unless it is to use a service that you have signed up to, and you're sure that the request for your information is directly related.