Not upheld: customer due diligence information requests and account access restrictions complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E complained that Nationwide Building Society unreasonably requested personal information (including employer and salary details) as part of customer due diligence checks and restricted his access to the credit card account through the mobile app when he did not provide this information within 90 days. He argued the information was unnecessary and that other financial firms had not requested it. The ombudsman found that Nationwide has legal and regulatory obligations to maintain up-to-date customer information to combat fraud and money laundering and to ensure credit affordability, and that the information requested is standard across the financial industry. The ombudsman concluded that the restriction of digital access was permitted under the account terms and was a reasonable enforcement mechanism, and therefore did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Nationwide has significant commercial discretion in how they handle accounts and what facilities they provide. The information requested (employer and salary) is standard across the financial industry for CDD purposes and is not onerous or disproportionate. Nationwide's obligations to hold up-to-date information to combat fraud, money laundering, and ensure credit affordability justify the CDD process. The restriction of digital access after 90 days of non-compliance is permitted under the terms and is a reasonable enforcement mechanism.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website