Not upheld: lack of transparency and information provision; unclear payment allocation complaint against PayPal UK Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T complained that PayPal UK Ltd failed to provide clear information about his credit account, specifically requesting a breakdown of which purchases were on promotional 0% terms, their expiry dates, and which parts were accruing interest. When PayPal's agent declined to provide this customised breakdown and suggested Mr T review statements manually or consult a financial advisor, Mr T raised a formal complaint about lack of transparency and unclear payment allocation. The ombudsman found that all required information was available in PayPal's monthly statements and the credit agreement signed in August 2019, and that PayPal was not obliged to produce a customised report beyond its statutory obligations. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that PayPal met its legal obligations by providing all required information in monthly statements and the credit agreement. While acknowledging that extracting the specific information Mr T sought would be time-consuming, the ombudsman found the information was available and accessible. The Consumer Duty does not require lenders to produce customised reports beyond statutory obligations or to provide information simply because a customer requests it. Payment allocation rules are set by the FCA and PayPal has no discretion; the ombudsman confirmed payments were applied correctly according to the terms.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website