Not upheld: app functionality and balance display accuracy complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Miss B complained that Barclays' banking app was not displaying accurate daily balances on some of her accounts. Barclays explained it had intentionally changed the app layout to display the sum of debits and credits for each day rather than end-of-day balances, and had incorporated pending transactions into the transaction list view. The changes were based on customer feedback and had undergone multiple rounds of testing. The ombudsman found no error and determined that while Miss B did not welcome the change, Barclays had not acted unfairly or differently towards her compared to other account holders affected by the gradual migration to the new format.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found no error in Barclays' actions. The bank made deliberate changes based on customer feedback and testing to improve information provision. While Miss B did not welcome the change and it caused her stress, this does not mean the bank acted wrongly. The ombudsman noted that the FOS cannot review a firm's systems, processes or policies, only whether individual customers were treated fairly. Barclays treated Miss B no differently from other account holders affected by the migration.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website