Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against TIDE PLATFORM LTD

Decision detail

Summary

R, a limited company, complained that Tide Platform Ltd failed to reimburse two disputed card payments totalling £2,366.01 made to Dubai merchants on 9 December 2025. Mr A, R's sole director, claimed he did not authorise the payments and suggested the card was cloned. Tide declined the claim, arguing the evidence showed R made or authorised the payments. The ombudsman found that while the payments used R's genuine debit card with the correct PIN, Mr A provided no credible explanation for how a third party could have accessed the physical card and PIN without his knowledge or negligence. The ombudsman upheld Tide's decision, finding it more likely that Mr A made or authorised the payments himself.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while the payments were made using R's genuine debit card with the correct PIN, the critical issue was whether it was more likely that R made or authorised the payments. Although there were some unusual aspects (Dubai merchant, declined payments, Mr A's gym class timing), the ombudsman found no credible explanation for how a third party could have gained access to the physical card and correct PIN without Mr A's knowledge or negligence. The ombudsman rejected the cloning theory as implausible given Mr A never used the card. The ombudsman also found Tide acted reasonably in not flagging the payments for additional checks, as they were not high value and were authorised with correct chip and PIN.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website