Not upheld: payment control failure and cryptocurrency transaction limits complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that Santander's £3,000 rolling 30-day cryptocurrency payment limit failed to block transactions he made in August 2025, resulting in financial loss and worsening mental health. Santander explained that the limit only functions when their systems identify recipients as cryptocurrency traders, and the recipient firm (X) was not initially recognized as such because it provides multiple services. The investigator recommended £200 compensation, but the ombudsman disagreed, finding that Santander was not unreasonable in not including X in their cryptocurrency database and that Mr P bore responsibility for monitoring his own spending. The complaint was not upheld and no remedy was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Santander's cryptocurrency limit is dependent on system detection of cryptocurrency providers. Since X provides multiple services and is not purely a cryptocurrency provider, Santander was not unreasonable in not including it in their database. The ombudsman rejected the investigator's view that Santander should have identified X as cryptocurrency-related. The ombudsman also found that Mr P bore responsibility for monitoring his own spending against the stated limit, and that Santander was not aware of any condition affecting his decision-making. Therefore, no error or unfairness by Santander could be established.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website