Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against TIDE PLATFORM LTD

Decision detail

Summary

M, a limited company represented by Miss H, applied to open an account with Tide Platform Ltd in November 2024 but was declined after Tide asked further questions about the business. Miss H complained that M was unfairly categorised as an unsupported industry and alleged the decision was discriminatory based on her sex, claiming the business was wrongly categorised as providing adult entertainment. The ombudsman found that Tide acted within their legitimate commercial discretion in declining the application, found no evidence of discrimination or misunderstanding of the business, and upheld Tide's right not to disclose detailed reasons for the rejection. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Financial firms have broad commercial discretion in choosing which businesses to provide accounts to, and there is no obligation to provide accounts to all applicants. It would be exceptional for the FOS to intervene without very good reason. Tide's decision to decline the account was a legitimate commercial decision made within their discretion and internal policies. No evidence was found that Miss H's sex or other personal characteristics played a role in the decision, nor that the decision was discriminatory. Tide's refusal to disclose detailed reasons is not unreasonable as such decisions often depend on commercial risk appetite and security procedures.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website