Not upheld: account restriction and fraud prevention procedures complaint against Barclays Bank UK Plc trading as Barclaycard

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that Barclaycard blocked his credit card while he was abroad and failed to resolve the issue adequately. When he could not respond to SMS verification requests and found phone lines closed, he withdrew money from his ISA to pay for flights, which subsequently increased in price. Barclaycard maintained they followed proper fraud prevention procedures and declined to compensate Mr P. The ombudsman found that Barclaycard acted fairly in restricting the account for security purposes and provided reasonable verification options, and therefore did not uphold the complaint or award any remedy.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclaycard was entitled to operate a fraud prevention system and acted reasonably in restricting the account. While sympathising with Mr P's situation, the ombudsman could not determine the cause of the SMS delivery failure or call disconnection, and noted that Mr P had alternative options available (such as calling during business hours or using the 24-hour fraud line). The ombudsman concluded that the account terms clearly state that card use is not guaranteed and Barclaycard can refuse transactions for security reasons. The ombudsman also noted it was Mr P's decision to use his ISA and that the terms exclude liability for losses from declined transactions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website