What Is Runa Network on My Bank Statement?
Runa Network Limited is a payments company that handles digital gift cards and payouts on behalf of other brands. A charge from Runa is almost always a gift card you bought — the restaurant or retailer whose gift card it was does not appear on your statement at all.
That is the whole confusion in one line: you bought a Nando's gift card, and your bank says Runa. Runa runs the gift card infrastructure for a long list of brands, so its name substitutes for theirs.
At a glance
- Company
- Runa Network Limited
- Companies House
- 09281949
- What it does
- Digital gift cards and payouts
- The charge is
- Almost always a gift card purchase
- Brand you bought from
- Does not appear on the statement
- Also handles
- Rewards, refunds and mass payouts
Who they are
Runa Network Limited, company number 09281949, provides payment infrastructure for digital value — gift cards, prepaid cards, rewards and payouts. It is a member of the Gift Card and Voucher Association.
Its customers are businesses, not consumers. Brands use Runa to issue and sell digital gift cards, and companies use it to pay out rewards, incentives and refunds at scale.
So you have never had a relationship with Runa, and you never will. You had one with whoever sold you the gift card.
Why it is on your statement
You bought a digital gift card. A restaurant, retailer or entertainment brand whose gift card programme runs on Runa. The charge equals the gift card value, often a round number — £25, £50, £100.
You bought it as a present, which is why the date may be close to a birthday or Christmas and the amount is neat.
Someone else in the household bought one on a shared card. Gift cards are a common last-minute purchase.
A credit rather than a debit?
If Runa appears as money coming in, that is a payout rather than a purchase.
Companies use Runa to send rewards, incentives, research payments, refunds and compensation. So an unexpected Runa credit is often a survey payment, a cashback reward, a goodwill payment from a company you complained to, or a prize.
That is worth checking rather than spending, but it is not usually a mistake.
Is it a scam?
No. Runa Network Limited is an established UK payments business with a Companies House record going back to 2014, and the descriptor is legitimate.
There is a specific caution worth attaching to gift cards generally, though, and it has nothing to do with Runa.
Gift cards are the payment method of choice for scammers. If somebody instructed you to buy gift cards and send them the codes — HMRC, a police officer, a "bank fraud team", a computer support caller, an online romance, an employer paying by voucher — that is a scam, without exception.
No genuine organisation is ever paid in gift card codes. If that is why this charge exists, stop, do not send any more codes, and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. If you still hold the cards, contact the issuing brand immediately — funds are occasionally recoverable if the codes have not yet been spent.
If you did not buy a gift card
Treat it as an unrecognised card payment. Your bank must refund an unauthorised payment by the end of the next working day, and your liability before you report it is capped at £35.
Gift cards are attractive to card fraudsters precisely because they convert stolen card details into value that is quick to move and hard to trace. So an unexplained gift card purchase is worth reporting promptly rather than watching for a few days.
- All four agencies: in one report: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion & Crediva
- Spot the errors: and old debts that quietly get applications declined
- It's a soft search: so checking never leaves a mark on your file
- See what lenders see: the same information banks pull when they assess you
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If the gift card never arrived
Digital gift cards are delivered by email, so check spam and promotions folders, and check the address used at checkout for a typo.
If it genuinely never arrived, go to the brand you bought it from rather than to Runa — the brand owns the customer relationship and the gift card programme.
If that fails, chargeback covers goods or services not received, usually within 120 days. Section 75 applies on a credit card where the amount was £100 or more.
🛡️ Build your recovery plan
Tick what applies to you. The order below is deliberate: most of these organisations will ask for your Action Fraud reference number, so doing it in this sequence saves you making the same call twice.
Nothing ticked yet: the steps below are the ones that apply to everyone. Tick a box above to add the rest.
- 1
Report it to Action Fraud and get your crime reference number
Action Fraud: the national reporting centre for fraud
- Onlinereportfraud.police.uk
- Phone0300 123 2040
Do this second, and do it before you contact anyone else. Almost every organisation in this list (lenders, credit reference agencies, debt collectors) will ask for the crime reference number Action Fraud gives you, and without it you end up making the same call twice. It also creates the official record you'll rely on if you have to dispute anything later. Expect an update within 28 working days, though that's about the investigation, not about clearing your name; that part is on you and starts now.
Have ready: What happened and roughly when · Any account or reference numbers involved
- 2
Get all three credit reports and read every line
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
- Experian0800 013 8888
- Equifax0800 014 2955
- TransUnion0330 024 7574
All three, not one. Lenders report to different agencies, so a fraudulent account can sit on one file and be invisible on the others: checking a single report is the most common way people miss the second and third account. You're looking for accounts you didn't open, searches you didn't authorise, and addresses linked to your name that you've never lived at. That last one matters more than it sounds: a linked address you don't recognise is often how the fraud was set up in the first place.
Have ready: Your addresses for the last six years
- 3
Add a CIFAS protective registration
CIFAS: the UK fraud prevention service
- Onlinecifas.org.uk
- Phone0330 460 9601
This puts a warning flag against your name in the National Fraud Database, so member organisations run extra identity checks before granting credit in your name. It costs £30 and lasts two years. It does not affect your credit score, and it doesn't touch accounts you already hold, but it will make your own applications slower, which is the trade-off. If someone has your details, that's usually a trade worth making. Note that not every application is checked against the database, so treat it as a strong deterrent rather than a lock.
- 4
Check you're on the electoral register at the right address
Your local council
A quick one that's worth doing while you're here. The electoral roll is one of the main ways lenders confirm you live where you say you do, and being missing from it both weakens your own applications and makes it easier for someone to claim your identity elsewhere.
- 5
Escalate if you get nowhere
Financial Ombudsman Service, or the ICO
- Financial Ombudsman0800 023 4567
- ICOico.org.uk
If a bank refuses to refund you, or a lender won't remove an entry it has accepted is fraudulent, complain to the firm first and give it eight weeks. After that, or as soon as you get a final response, take it to the Financial Ombudsman. It's free and its decisions bind the firm. Where the argument is specifically about inaccurate data staying on your credit file, the Information Commissioner's Office can also look at it. Both routes cost you nothing.
- 6
Close the door behind you
You
Change passwords on your email account first, not your banking: email is the master key, because it's where password resets land. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it's offered. If documents were lost or stolen, report the passport or driving licence to the issuing body so it can be flagged. And set a reminder to re-check your credit reports in three months: fraudulent applications sometimes surface long after the original breach.
Contact details and process reflect Action Fraud, CIFAS, the credit reference agencies and National Debtline guidance for England and Wales. Scotland reports fraud through Police Scotland on 101 rather than Action Fraud; the rest of the process is the same. General information, not legal advice: free, independent help is available from National Debtline, Citizens Advice and StepChange.
