Revolut has launched Street Mode, a new security feature to improve protection for its UK and EEA customers amidst a rise in phone snatching and transfer mugging.
The feature enables customers to define their own ‘Trusted Locations’, outside of which ‘Street Mode’ will be triggered, with outgoing transfers above a certain limit subjected to additional identification checks and a one-hour delay.
The digital bank, which currently has more than 65 million global customers, said that the feature will create a “critical window of time” where fraudulent activity can be stopped by preventing customer funds from being transferred under duress.
The move comes after recent figures from US insurance company SquareTrade found that nearly two in five phones stolen in Europe are taken in the UK.
The research also revealed that the UK has seen a 425 per cent rise in phone thefts since 2021.
Revolut warned that these incidents put people’s funds at risk as criminals aim to make transfers while the phone remains unlocked.
In some cases, victims are forced to complete required selfie checks before fleeing the scene, known as ‘transfer mugging’.
“It’s vital that we stay on top of emerging threats to customer funds and transfer mugging is one that is rising across many cities and countries,” said Rami Kalai, product owner, Revolut. “Street Mode is a smart, location-aware shield that adapts to locations where customers need an extra level of protection and provides confidence on the go.
“Street Mode puts Revolut customers in control with extra layers of protection for their funds when they need it most.”
Street Mode is an expansion of the FinTech’s Wealth Protection feature, which provides extra biometric identification to protect customer savings from pickpockets and phone snatchers.
It has been enabled by over one million Revolut customers across Europe since launch.
Last week, Revolut announced the completion of a share sale which values the company at $75 billion.
Current employees at the digital bank were given the opportunity to sell as part of the transaction, with the company now having enabled five share sales for its employees to date.
It claimed the move demonstrates it that it runs one of the most liquid employee share programmes across private companies in the industry.
