Santander introduces tailored fraud warnings on banking app

Customers making payments or setting up standing orders through the bank's mobile app will be asked to select the reason for the transaction, such as 'paying for services' or 'paying friends or family'.

The customer will then be sent a tailored warning to watch out for the type of fraud that is commonly associated with this payment.

Customers will also be able to authorise online shopping transactions using their fingerprint or facial recognition.

See our 30+ Ways to Stop Scams guide for more info on preventing fraud.

What are the warnings?

The warnings customers are shown will depend on the reason selected for the transaction.

For example, if a customer says they are making a transaction to buy goods, they will be warned about purchase scams, where fraudsters create fake adverts for goods and demand payment upfront.

Or if a customer says they're transferring money to another of their own accounts, they'll be warned about 'safe account' scams, where fraudsters posing as bank staff or police will tell victims their accounts are at risk and that they need to transfer money to a new, 'safe' account run by the scammer.

The warnings will give customers the opportunity to delay or cancel the payment, and call Santander from within the app if they have any concerns.

Here's an example:

Santander's online banking already has similarly tailored warnings and options to delay payments.

How will customers authorise transactions using their fingerprint?

Santander has also introduced additional authentication for some online payments.

Customers making online transactions that use a system known as 3D secure – which is designed to be an additional security layer for online payments – will receive a notification to their online banking app, asking them to verify the payment using their security details, or fingerprint and facial recognition if their smartphone allows it.

They'll be urged to cancel the transaction if they have reason to believe that it is suspicious.

What does Santander say?

Santander head of fraud strategy Chris Ainsley said: "We are committed to helping our customers protect themselves against fraud and these innovative enhancements to our mobile banking app are the latest step in that fight.

"The new features will mean that the three million customers who use our mobile app will have the information at their fingertips to help stop the scammers, as well as giving them an easy way to cancel and contact us directly if they feel uncomfortable with a payment."