Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Monzo Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M disputed approximately £300 in transactions made via Apple Pay to a gambling website between May 2025 and March 2026, claiming he did not authorise them. He also complained about Monzo's decision to close his account. The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017 framework and found the transactions were authorised by Mr M, not made by an unauthorised third-party. The recurring pattern of payments to a gambling website he previously used, funded by his own account transfers and savings, combined with other undisputed gambling transactions during the same period, indicated Mr M's own use. The ombudsman also found no basis to conclude Monzo acted unfairly in closing the account and therefore did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Payment Services Regulations 2017 framework, which requires both authentication and consent for an authorised transaction. While the transactions were authenticated, the key issue was consent. The ombudsman found Mr M's evidence unreliable due to material inconsistencies in his account of how others accessed his device. The pattern of recurring transactions over 10 months to a known gambling website, funded by Mr M's own transfers and savings, combined with other undisputed gambling transactions and Apple Pay transactions during the same period, was inconsistent with opportunistic fraud. The ombudsman concluded this pattern indicated ongoing access and familiarity consistent with Mr M's own use rather than unauthorised third-party access.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website