Not upheld: standing order return due to insufficient funds; payment processing timing complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs T complained that Nationwide returned a standing order for £1,250 on 4 June 2025 despite her arranging credits of £4,000 and £1,250 to be paid into her account that day. Nationwide returned the standing order because the credits had not been received before its 14:30 cut-off time. The ombudsman found it reasonable for Nationwide to expect Mrs T to have funds available on the standing order payment date and that Nationwide acted within its terms and conditions in returning the payment when insufficient funds were available at the cut-off time. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found it reasonable for Nationwide to expect Mrs T to have funds in her account on the standing order payment date and to manage her account accordingly. Although Nationwide allows credits received by 14:30 to be considered for same-day standing order payments, the credits in this case were not received in time to meet this cut-off. Therefore, Nationwide acted within its terms and conditions in returning the standing order, and Mrs T bore responsibility for ensuring sufficient funds were available.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website