Not upheld: poor service - mobile banking app unavailability complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained that NatWest provided poor service when he was unable to access the mobile banking App on 26 July 2025 while attending an event, forcing him to borrow money and causing embarrassment. He claimed this was the fourth incident of the App 'crashing' and later had to re-register the App. NatWest denied any outages on that date and suggested the problems were caused by Mr G's device or network issues, noting he could have used his debit card instead. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence that NatWest caused the problems and concluded they were more likely due to Mr G's device or network, rejecting the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr G had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that NatWest caused the app access problems on 26 July 2025. NatWest had no records of outages on that date, and there were no reported widespread problems affecting customers. The ombudsman concluded it was more likely that the problems were caused by Mr G's device or network issues. The ombudsman also noted that Mr G could have used alternative payment methods such as his debit card, and that the later need to re-register the App (after getting a new phone in September) did not explain the July incident.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website