Bank customers in the UK could soon see their payments delayed by up to three days as part of a new government crackdown on fraud. The Treasury has proposed new laws that would allow banks to pause suspicious transactions for up to 72 hours if there are reasonable grounds to suspect fraudulent activity.

Banks like Natwest, Halifax, Barclays, Nationwide and Santander will be able to keep hold of your money for up to four days after you’ve tried to pay it to someone thanks to new government powers set to be introduced in October.

Experts hope it should not affect the vast majority of everyday payments Bank payments could be delayed by up to three days under new rules that would give banks more time to investigate potential fraud.

Banks could be given extra time to investigate suspicious payments under an effort to curb fraud. The Treasury said proposed new laws would enable banks to pause transactions for up to 72 hours where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a payment is fraudulent.

Warning over three-day delayed bank payments under new rules - A bank currenlty has until the end of the next business day to either process of refuse a payment

Bank payments could be delayed by three days under new anti-fraud rules - The Government said it was proposing laws that will extend the time that payments can be stalled by up to 72 hours.