Revolut introduces in-app calls feature to help expose and curb scams

Revoult says the calls feature will allow its more than three million users in Ireland to contact its customer support directly, and in doing so, help uncover and curb impersonation scams.

Online bank Revolut is introducing a new in-app calls feature to help its customers better protect themselves from scams.

The company says the calls feature will allow its more than three million users in Ireland to contact Revolut’s customer support directly, and in doing so, help uncover and curb impersonation scams.

In these scams, fraudsters contact a target pretending to be their bank, an authority, a utility, or some other trusted person, and try to convince them to transfer money or share sensitive details so some sort of bogus issue can be addressed, thus compromising the safety of the victim’s money.

While such scams are relatively common, Revolut says it has managed to reduce the number of such scams affecting its customers to its lowest level in two years.

The neobank says this reduction is down to the release of several advanced security features over this time period.

It says the new in-app calls feature is something fraudsters will not be able to replicate.

Going forward, Revolut says it wants its customers to be aware the “vast majority” of calls its customer support will make to personal customers will be conducted in-app. 

According to the company, regular phone calls will only take place in specific instances, such as when a customer is without an internet connection, or when access to the app needs to be recovered.

Revolut’s head of financial crime Woody Malouf said impersonation scams could be “a major hazard for many consumers”.

“We know that the most effective way to stop a scam is to break the spell as fast as possible, before any money has been transferred. That’s why we are providing for our customers innovative solutions that help them uncover a scam quickly,” he said.

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Mr Malouf said that, because the majority of Revolut’s calls to users will now be done in-app, any customer who does get an unplanned call regarding their personal account from somebody claiming to be Revolut can “put the phone down and check through the app that they are who they say they are”.

“Speaking to someone through our app means customers can be 100% sure they are talking to Revolut and not a fraudster,” he added.

Malcolm Craig, general manager at Revolut's Ireland Branch said the new security measure would go “a long way to quelling the impersonation scams that plague the financial services industry”.

“More than a third of our workforce are in FinCrime [financial crime]-related roles now, and we’ll continue to develop our customer protections to ensure Ireland is a safer place to bank for consumers,” he said.