Not upheld: inadequate disclosure of account access controls and customer service error complaint against Tide Platform Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr R complained to Tide Platform Ltd about losses his business suffered after an expense cardholder (Mr H) was able to view the business account balance at an ATM, despite Mr R having disabled balance-visibility permissions in the Tide app. Mr R also complained that Tide support incorrectly told Mr H the account was his and provided account management instructions. Mr R claimed £60,464.40 in business losses resulting from the incident and his subsequent decision to freeze the card. Tide apologized for service failures and offered £150 compensation. The ombudsman found that while Tide could have been clearer about ATM balance visibility at the point of issuing the card, Tide acted fairly in its response and could not be held responsible for the business losses, as these resulted from Mr R's decision to freeze the card and the actions of Mr H rather than from Tide's technical limitations.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that Tide could have been clearer about ATM balance visibility at the point of issuing an expense card, as this was material to Mr R's decision. However, the ombudsman found that Tide's explanation of its technical limitations was acceptable and that Tide had acted fairly in apologizing for the specific error where Mr H was incorrectly told the account was his. Crucially, the ombudsman rejected the causal link between Mr H viewing the balance and the claimed £60,464.40 in business losses, finding that the consequences of Mr R's decision to freeze the card were not Tide's responsibility. The ombudsman stated it would be unfair to hold Tide accountable for the actions of Mr H or the subsequent business impact.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website