Not upheld: account restrictions during customer due diligence checks and delays in CDD process complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

S, a limited company, complained that Wise Payments Limited took too long to complete Customer Due Diligence checks (approximately 14 days), requested excessive and repetitive information, and restricted its account during the process, causing it to lose £41,700 in cancelled sales meetings. S claimed it was repeatedly redirected to a KYC document upload screen and could not reliably make payments for suppliers, staff, and rent. Wise accepted that four administrative emails were mistakenly sent and that communication could have been clearer, offering £50 compensation. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding no system evidence of account restrictions, noting that transaction activity occurred during the review period, and determining that Wise's CDD checks were a regulatory obligation conducted in accordance with account terms.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Wise was entitled to conduct CDD checks as a regulatory obligation and that the 14-day timeframe, while longer than S preferred, was not unreasonably delayed by Wise's errors. The key issue was whether the account was restricted. The ombudsman found no system evidence of blocked or pending transfers, no evidence of held or returned incoming payments, and noted that transaction activity occurred during the review period. The ombudsman rejected S's interpretation of Wise's wording about the account becoming 'fully active' as an admission of prior restrictions, instead interpreting it as confirmation that CDD checks were completed. The ombudsman found the £50 compensation already offered by Wise sufficient for communication issues and determined that inconvenience alone does not warrant compensation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website