Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Ms C complained that Barclays refused to refund disputed transactions made by her son on her account between 22 July and 13 August 2025 for online gaming. Ms C claimed the transactions were unauthorised as her son made them without her consent. Barclays declined to refund, arguing Ms C had given her son access to her card details on a shared device without adequate protection. The ombudsman found that Ms C's actions in adding her card to Google Pay on a shared device and allowing her son access without implementing security measures created apparent authority under the Payment Service Regulations 2017, making the transactions authorised and Ms C liable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Under the Payment Service Regulations 2017, a consumer is liable for authorised transactions. When a consumer permits a third party to appear to have authority to make payments, those transactions are likely authorised even if the consumer didn't explicitly authorise them. Ms C's actions of adding her card to Google Pay on a shared device, giving her son access, and failing to implement security measures such as passcodes or parental controls created apparent authority for her son to make the payments. The ombudsman found no supporting evidence that Ms C had successfully deleted the card details as claimed.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website