Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained to Nationwide Building Society after an online payment to his partner was temporarily delayed by the firm's fraud systems and he received incorrect information about the payment status via WebChat. Nationwide paid £50 as an apology for the misinformation but Mr G felt this did not adequately reflect the impact on him and his partner. The ombudsman found that Nationwide acted reasonably in holding the payment for fraud checks (completed within expected timeframes the same day), was not unfair in not notifying Mr G during the review, and that the £50 compensation was fair for the one-off error that was promptly corrected and caused no financial loss. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Nationwide acted reasonably in temporarily holding the payment as part of its fraud protection obligations, which fall within expected timeframes and are permitted by its terms and conditions. While the lack of notification added to Mr G's concern, the ombudsman determined this was not unfair given the short delay and same-day resolution. The incorrect information provided via WebChat was a one-off error promptly corrected within 45 minutes that did not affect the outcome or cause financial loss, making the £50 compensation fair and consistent with similar cases.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website