Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Starling Bank Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5993390 of 2026-06-25T00:00:00+00:00. Service failures generally complaint against Starling Bank Limited. Outcome: Not upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-5993390 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-06-25T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Starling Bank Limited |
| Product | Current account |
| Claim type | Service failures generally |
| Outcome | Not upheld |
| Remedy | None. Complaint not upheld. |
Summary
Mr Z, a vulnerable individual with gambling problems, complained that Starling Bank's gambling block failed to prevent payments to gambling merchants in September 2025. Starling investigated and explained that the merchants had not used gambling MCC codes, which meant the block could not have stopped the payments, and subsequently added these merchants to their database. The ombudsman found that the gambling block worked as designed within its known limitations and that Starling had not acted unfairly or unreasonably, therefore not upholding the complaint.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman acknowledged that gambling blocks have limitations and only block payments to merchants using gambling MCC codes. The block worked as designed in this case. While sympathetic to Mr Z's difficult circumstances, the ombudsman found it would not be fair to hold Starling liable for the block's inherent limitations. The ombudsman noted that Starling went beyond typical practice by subsequently adding the merchants to their database for future blocking.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Starling Bank Limited, all decisions | 1,021 | 25% |
| Service failures generally, all decisions | 34,193 | 32% |
| Current account, all decisions | 52,014 | 19% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website