Ask Adrian: Is Revolut’s request for my PPS number a scam?

Answer​

If you get this request when you open the app itself on your phone, it’s not a scam. If you get a request like this via text or email, it may or may not be a scam; the best thing to do is to independently open the app itself and see if you’re prompted to do anything. But don’t ‘open the app’ from a link in the text or email; open it separately to your text or email session.

Now, as to the reason why it’s asking for your PPS number, Revolut says that it’s part of international financial regulatory rules.

It’s a little confusing because some banks in Ireland ask for PPS numbers but others don’t. This naturally leads to questions as to the exact reason why one bank says they require a particularly sensitive piece of information, such as a PPS number, while others say they don’t.

Here’s what Revolut told me when I asked them about it: “Certain Irish customers will have received a push notification and/or email from Revolut recently to provide their PPS number.

“As a European-regulated bank, Revolut is legally required to determine where its customers are tax resident.

“This is for reporting purposes under international tax rules, namely the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and is solely for the purposes of identifying customers’ tax residency. In Ireland, this information can be derived from customers’ PPS numbers, which are used by Revenue to identify Ireland’s taxpayers.”

My understanding is that not every Revolut customer will get this request as, and this is where it gets a bit byzantine, this PPS number requirement only applies to Revolut customers who joined the service before March 2023 (in other words, most of us), when it established an Irish branch.

From that date on, anyone in Ireland who set up an account with Revolut is not necessarily in line to get a request for a PPS number as it’s technically with the Irish branch, negating the banks’ need to verify your tax residency status.​

Email your questions to ­aweckler@independent.ie