Not upheld: scam protection / fraud prevention and refund claim complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs H purchased a five-year subscription to investment services from Company W for £2,759.44 via SWIFT payment through her Wise account in December 2023. Dissatisfied with the service due to time zone issues and unmet advertised benefits, she requested a refund but Company W refused. Wise rejected her claim as a merchant dispute but partially upheld her complaint, offering £100 compensation for a service error. The ombudsman found no credible evidence of fraud or scam by Company W, noting significant positive reviews and regulatory history, and determined Wise was not obligated to intervene in the payment. The complaint was not upheld, and the £100 compensation was deemed fair and reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found a lack of evidence that Company W was operating a fraud or scam, noting the high legal threshold for fraud, significant positive reviews, Company W's established history, absence of regulatory findings, and that the time zone issue was a normal commercial consideration rather than an indicator of fraud. Even if it were a scam, the Contingent CRM Code does not apply to international payments, and Wise was not obligated to intervene given they process millions of daily payments and must balance intervention against inconveniencing legitimate transactions. The ombudsman concluded that even if Wise had intervened, Mrs H's motivation and the positive reviews would likely not have prevented her from proceeding with the payment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website