Not upheld: unauthorised transaction / disputed payment complaint against MONZO BANK LIMITED

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Monzo Bank Limited failed to refund a transaction of £605.03 that he claimed he did not authorise while travelling abroad. Mr M stated he attempted to make a small purchase from a beach vendor but was charged significantly more than expected. Although Mr M initially claimed his phone was stolen, he later clarified that he had completed the ApplePay transaction himself but believed he was approving a much smaller amount. The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and determined that consent is an objective test based on whether the agreed authentication procedure was followed, not on the consumer's awareness of the payment amount. Since Mr M completed the required ApplePay authentication, the transaction was authorised and the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017, which establish that consent is an objective test based on whether the agreed authentication procedure was followed, not on the consumer's subjective awareness of payment details. Since Mr M completed the ApplePay authentication procedure (tapping his phone on the card reader after overcoming device security), the transaction was authorised even though he was deceived about the amount. The regulations specifically state that deception about the purpose or amount of a payment does not make the transaction unauthorised.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website