British online bank Revolut called on Meta on Thursday to reimburse victims of fraud, rather than simply sharing its data, as the American giant has committed to doing with some banks.
Revolut "calls on Meta to commit to helping reimburse victims of fraud, considering that its recently announced data-sharing partnership with British banks and financial institutions falls far short of the needs of the fight against fraud on a global scale," the bank said in a statement.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced in a statement on Wednesday a partnership with two British banks NatWest and Metro Bank "to help protect people from fraud (...) through shared data".
According to Revolut's head of financial crime, Woody Malouf, these are only "baby steps, while the industry needs real progress".
He regrets that "social networks never share (the) responsibility" for reimbursing victims and therefore have no incentive to combat the phenomenon.
"Fraud is a multi-sector problem that can only be solved by working together. Our Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE) pilot program is designed to allow banks to share information so that we can work together to protect the people who use our respective services. We encourage banks, including Revolut, to join this effort," a Meta spokesperson responded Thursday afternoon.
According to a Revolut report on financial crime, "Meta platforms remain the largest source of all scams (62%) reported to Revolut globally in the first half of 2024", a relatively stable proportion compared to the second half of 2023 (64%).
Facebook alone is the source of more than 39% of fraud volumes worldwide, and 28% in France, according to this study.
"We welcome the measures of the French government" to combat fraud, "such as the Naegelen law, but Meta and other platforms must also commit to supporting victims, as financial institutions do", added Mr. Malouf.
A law supported by French MP Christophe Naegelen (Liot, Liberté, Indépendants, Outre-mer, territoires, centristes), promulgated in July 2020, regulates telephone canvassing and combats fraudulent calls.
Fintech Revolut has 45 million customers worldwide, including more than 3.5 million in France.