Not upheld: failed international money transfer and service delays complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr J instructed Lloyds to transfer £40,000 to his overseas bank account on 29 September 2025. Lloyds initially provided incorrect routing instructions but corrected them on 2 October 2025. Despite the correction, the payment was not credited to the overseas account, and Mr J was without the funds for three months before requesting a recall on 1 December 2025. The funds were returned on 29 December 2025. Lloyds paid £700 compensation and refunded the £33 transfer charge. The ombudsman upheld this compensation as fair and reasonable, finding that Lloyds was not responsible for the payment failure after correcting its routing error.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Lloyds made an initial routing error, it was corrected at the earliest opportunity. The ombudsman was not persuaded that Lloyds was responsible for the payment not being completed after the correction, as the failure appeared to stem from issues with intermediary banks rather than Lloyds' actions. The ombudsman concluded that the compensation paid (£700 plus £33 refund) would be sufficient even if Lloyds had been entirely to blame, and was in line with FOS guidelines and comparable cases.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website