Not upheld: account opening refusal / regulatory compliance complaint against The Co-operative Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F applied for a basic bank account with Co-operative Bank in January 2026 but was refused. He appealed the decision but Co-operative maintained its refusal, citing both discrepancies in his application and his previous account history with the bank. The ombudsman examined whether Co-operative complied with the Payment Account Regulations 2015, which require designated credit institutions to offer basic accounts but permit refusals where required by legal and regulatory obligations or based on customer conduct. The ombudsman was satisfied that Co-operative's refusal was justified based on an individual assessment of Mr F's circumstances, including his previous disputed payments and rejected unauthorized payment claim, and that the bank was entitled to consider his previous account history. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Payment Account Regulations 2015 require designated credit institutions to offer basic accounts but allow refusals where required by legal and regulatory obligations or based on customer conduct. The ombudsman was satisfied that Co-operative complied with its legal and regulatory obligations when refusing the application based on an individual assessment of Mr F's circumstances, including his previous account history with the bank and the discrepancies in his application. The refusal was not a pretext to reject a commercially less attractive customer but was appropriately grounded in regulatory requirements and Mr F's banking history.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website