Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G disputed three credit card transactions totalling £6,485, claiming they were fraudulent and made by a taxi driver who observed his PIN. HSBC refused to refund, noting that Mr G's genuine card and PIN were used and that Mr G had confirmed one transaction as genuine via a fraud alert. The ombudsman found that Mr G most likely made the transactions himself, based on the timing (occurring hours after he claimed to have lost the card), the repeated use of Face ID to access his mobile banking app during the transaction period, and the implausibility of his explanations for how an unauthorised party could have used his biometric authentication. The complaint was not upheld, and the £200 compensation already paid for poor service handling was deemed fair.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found it more likely than not that Mr G made the transactions himself based on: (1) the timing of transactions occurring hours after Mr G claimed to have left his card and phone in the taxi, during which time a fraudster would likely use the card immediately; (2) the use of Face ID to access mobile banking app multiple times during the transaction period, which would be difficult for an unauthorised party to accomplish given Mr G's explanations; (3) the card being returned to Mr G afterwards, which would be unusual for a fraudster seeking to avoid detection; and (4) Mr G's positive response to the fraud alert at 3.36am. The ombudsman rejected Mr G's theories about how an unauthorised party could have used Face ID as implausible.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website