Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Tide Platform Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr I paid a decorator £1,680 as a deposit for work that was never completed. When the decorator refused to return the deposit, Mr I reported it as a scam to his sending bank. Tide Platform Limited, the receiving bank holding the decorator's account, declined to investigate or return the funds. Mr I complained to Tide and subsequently to the FOS, arguing that Tide should have detected fraud and that it should have offered payment link protection. The ombudsman found that Tide had completed appropriate KYC checks, the account showed no prior fraud indicators, and Tide reasonably treated the matter as a civil dispute between the parties rather than fraud.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Tide satisfied its regulatory obligations through appropriate KYC checks at account opening. There were no red flags in the account's two-year history prior to Mr I's payment that should have alerted Tide to fraud. Upon notification of the alleged scam, Tide reasonably treated it as a civil dispute given the account's clean history, the time elapsed since the transaction, and the account holder's response. The ombudsman rejected Mr I's argument that Tide should have offered payment link protection, as this was not a service Tide provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website