Not upheld: account closure and Cifas reporting complaint against Revolut Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss A complained that Revolut closed her account and reported her to the Cifas fraud database after a third party reported a fraudulent payment into her account. Although the third party subsequently withdrew the fraud report and this was confirmed by the sending bank, Revolut completed its review, closed the account, and made the Cifas report, restricting Miss A's access to her funds. Revolut later removed the Cifas information, reopened the account, and paid £572.94 in compensation (£500 for distress and inconvenience plus 8% simple interest). Miss A sought additional compensation for interest and fees incurred on emergency borrowing from a pawnbroker. The ombudsman upheld Revolut's compensation as fair and reasonable, rejecting the claim for pawnbroker costs as requiring detailed examination of Miss A's financial position and alternative options available to her.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman accepted that Revolut should not have closed the account and that Miss A would have regained access to funds sooner. While the initial account restriction was reasonable given the fraud report received, there were unnecessary delays in the review process. The ombudsman found that £500 compensation for distress and inconvenience was fair, along with simple interest at 8% per annum for the period funds were unavailable. The ombudsman rejected Miss A's claim for reimbursement of pawnbroker interest and fees, as this would require examination of her full financial position and whether she could have reasonably taken steps to reduce borrowing.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website