Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against J.P. Morgan Europe Limited trading as Chase

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B, a vulnerable individual with a gambling addiction, complained that Chase's gambling block failed to prevent payments to gambling merchants in October 2025 and that Chase refused to block specific merchants he identified, resulting in further £800 losses. Chase explained that the merchants used alternative coding to evade the block and offered £75 compensation for inaccurate information. The ombudsman upheld Chase's position, finding that while gambling blocks are now standard, merchant-specific blocking tools are emerging features not yet considered standard practice, and therefore Chase did not act unfairly in not offering this service.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman focused on Mr B's central complaint that Chase should have blocked specific merchants he requested, rather than the gambling block's technical limitations. The ombudsman noted that while gambling blocks have become standard over five years, merchant-specific blocking tools are emerging but were not standard practice at the time of complaint. Therefore, Chase was not acting unfairly by not offering this additional tool.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website