Not upheld: failed international payment and unaccounted funds deduction complaint against Equal Money PLC trading as Equals Money (EM)

Decision detail

Summary

Ms K complained that she received only €52.00 back from a €92.00 international money transfer through EM, with €40 unaccounted for. EM explained that Ms K had instructed a Swift payment when the receiving bank only accepted SEPA transfers, which likely caused the rejection. The intermediary bank involved was undisclosed, preventing identification of where the €40 went, though it was likely due to fees or currency conversion. EM had refunded Ms K £35.00 to cover her financial loss and attempted to trace the intermediary bank without success. The ombudsman found EM had acted reasonably and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found on balance of probabilities that the payment failure was caused by Ms K instructing a Swift payment when the receiving bank only accepted SEPA transfers, as evidenced by previous successful SEPA payments. The €40 reduction was likely due to fees charged by the receiving bank or its intermediary, or currency conversion during the transfer process, not EM's error. EM had taken reasonable steps to identify the intermediary bank but was unable to do so due to the bank being undisclosed. EM had already compensated Ms K for her financial loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website