Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Metro Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P, who turned 18 in December 2024, placed approximately £14,000 in online bets between March and September 2025 using his Metro Bank account. In October 2025, he complained that Metro should have detected the change in account activity and protected him from gambling harm. Metro disagreed, as did the FOS investigator. The ombudsman upheld Metro's position, finding that the individual gambling payments (typically £20-£50) were not unusual or concerning when viewed against Mr P's overall account activity including regular day-to-day expenditure, and that Metro only became aware of potential gambling issues when Mr P complained.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the gambling payments, while frequent, were small in individual amount (£20-£50) and not unusual or concerning when viewed against Mr P's overall account activity which included regular day-to-day expenditure. Metro's systems did not flag these payments as problematic. The ombudsman was satisfied that Metro only became aware of potential gambling issues when Mr P complained, and therefore had no prior reason to intervene or discuss gambling concerns with him.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website