Not upheld: payment administration and complaint handling complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Barclaycard

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D, an overseas resident, attempted to transfer £4,200 to his Barclays credit card in March 2025 to repay his balance. The transfer was rejected and returned the same day because the reference details provided by his sending bank were incorrect, containing missing digits and showing his business name instead of the required card number. Barclays had partially upheld the complaint and offered compensation for poor communication. The ombudsman found Barclays acted appropriately in rejecting the payment due to insufficient identifying information and that the compensation already provided was reasonable, declining to uphold the complaint or order further action.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclays correctly rejected the payment because the transfer reference contained incorrect identifying details (missing digits and business name instead of card number). Returning the funds on the same day was the appropriate action when the firm could not properly identify where to credit them. Barclays had already provided reasonable compensation for poor complaint communication, and no further assistance could be meaningfully provided as the firm no longer held the funds.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website