Not upheld: unauthorised transactions / disputed payments complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Miss F complained that Nationwide Building Society refused to refund four sets of disputed transactions totalling various amounts that she claimed she did not authorise. Nationwide confirmed all transactions were made using Apple Pay tokens matching those used by Miss F for other legitimate transactions. The ombudsman reviewed the evidence and found that the matching Apple Pay tokens proved Miss F had authorised the transactions from her own device, making third-party fraud impossible. The ombudsman concluded that Miss F had likely mistakenly signed up for subscription services and rejected her complaint, finding no basis for Nationwide to provide a refund.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities standard and found Nationwide's technical evidence compelling. The matching Apple Pay tokens demonstrated that the transactions were completed from Miss F's device, making it impossible for a third party to have authorised them without her device. The ombudsman noted that it would have been simple for Miss F to have mistakenly signed up for these subscription services given their nature, and that her delayed complaint prevented earlier intervention.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website