Bank's scam processes not 'fit for purpose'

A small business owner said she had been unable pay suppliers and may struggle to process wages after her banking was restricted when she reported being targeted by scammers.

Four unauthorised transactions totalling £124 were taken from Alison Derrig's Metro Bank account, which she uses for Mission Accomplished, a company to help young people turn ideas into business opportunities.

Since reporting the fraudulent activity in December, she said it triggered a "world of pain" and unable to make several genuine payments including £21,000 to a supplier.

Metro Bank apologised and said customers' security was taken extremely seriously.

"When I did get my new debit card, I tried to make a payment and I authenticated it but they declined it and stopped my new debit card," Ms Derrig, of Birmingham, said.

"The bank seems unable to tell the difference now between a legitimate payment and a fraudulent one.

"I'm a small business. Cash is king. I've been terrified I won't be able to pay the wages."

It began when she received a text from an unknown number claiming to be her bank and informing her of a transaction she did not recognise.

When she checked her account, there were four unauthorised transactions which she reported to Metro Bank.

Although steps were taken to secure the account, a month later Ms Derrig said her new debit card continued to be sporadically blocked.

"Online banking for a small business is our lifeblood," she said.

"I think the system is really hard to navigate and have faith in… I don't think it's very fit for purpose at the moment."

She added she understood scams happened but was disappointed with the way Metro Bank handled it.

Fraud expert Alina Timofeeva said scammers regularly took advantage of the increased number of transactions happening during December, when the money was taken from Ms Derrig's account.

She said this was because they relied on people not keeping track of what they were spending during this time.

"They are small transactions, but for some they are really valuable, we should not dismiss these as negligible amounts, she said.

A spokesperson for Metro Bank said they "take our customers' security extremely seriously and we have a range of safeguards in place across all channels to help defend them against fraud".

"Having reviewed Ms Derrig's account, we can see that in the first instance our safeguards were successful in protecting her bank account from further fraud and any fraudulent transactions were reimbursed in full.

"We are aware that on some occasions, particularly when they occur so soon after a genuine fraud, these protections may lead to legitimate payments being delayed, and we apologise to Ms. Derrig for the inconvenience this caused."

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