Not upheld: direct debit setup refusal and account verification requirements complaint against American Express Payment Services Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that American Express refused to set up direct debit payments from two different bank accounts without providing statements, which he considered intrusive and disproportionate. He also noted that American Express misspelled his name in its complaint response. The ombudsman found that American Express's verification requirements were reasonable security measures, as automatic verification failed for Bank A and Bank B was not supported by the firm. The different results from the two banks were not contradictory given they failed for different reasons. The ombudsman upheld American Express's £30 compensation for the name misspelling but did not uphold the main complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that American Express's requirement to verify account details before setting up a direct debit is a reasonable security and fraud prevention measure that is ultimately the firm's decision to implement. The request for statements was justified because automatic verification failed for Bank A and Bank B is not supported by the firm. The different results from the two banks were not contradictory or suspicious given they failed for different reasons. The CONC provision cited by Mr P relates only to credit applications and is not relevant to direct debit setup.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website