Upheld: unauthorised transaction / irresponsible payment processing complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC, trading as Tesco Bank

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs R complained that Tesco Bank processed and later re-debited a hotel booking payment she had declined during the 3DS authentication stage in April 2025. Tesco initially refunded the £597 transaction but subsequently re-debited it, claiming the booking was non-refundable under card scheme rules. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that Mrs R had clearly withdrawn her consent by declining the additional authentication, and Tesco could not ignore this customer instruction. The ombudsman ordered Tesco to refund £597 and rework the credit card account to remove related interest and charges, rejecting Tesco's argument about contractual obligations to the hotel booking agent.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that authorisation of a transaction requires both authentication and consent. Mrs R clearly withdrew her consent by declining the additional authentication (3DS) requested by Tesco. Although Tesco may have had contractual grounds based on card scheme rules to process the payment, the ombudsman determined that Tesco could not ignore the customer's clear instruction to decline the transaction. The ombudsman rejected Tesco's argument about a contractual agreement with the hotel booking agent, finding instead that Mrs R had unambiguously withdrawn her consent to the payment transaction.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website