Why new payees are capped for four hours

A newly added payee cannot receive more than a capped amount for its first four hours. It is the single most effective control we have against authorised push payment fraud.

Most account takeovers follow the same shape: an attacker gains a session, adds their own account as a payee, and moves the balance in one instruction. The four-hour cooling-off cap breaks that shape. The legitimate customer, adding a payee for rent or a purchase, plans ahead by more than four hours in almost every case.

The cap lifts automatically and requires no call, no verification and no branch visit. It is shown at the point you add the payee and again at the point you send, so it never arrives as a surprise.

We considered making the delay optional. We decided against it: the customers most targeted by this fraud are the ones most likely to be talked through disabling it. Some controls protect best by not having an off switch.

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