Partially upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that Wise Payments Limited declined to refund disputed transactions totaling 2,834 MXN that were made online without his authorization, likely after his card details were compromised during a massage in Mexico. Wise initially required Mr A to pursue the foreign merchant for a refund rather than investigating the transaction itself, contrary to its obligations under the Payment Services Regulations. The ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding the refund with interest but rejected Mr A's claim for £400 compensation for distress and inconvenience, finding that while Wise's initial handling was deficient, Mr A's own conduct during the complaint process—including his agitated tone and continued engagement with Wise despite being aware of his right to escalate to the FOS—contributed to the service issues and indicated insufficient mitigation of losses.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman agreed with the investigator that the disputed transactions were unauthorized distance contracts and that Wise should have investigated the transaction directly under the PSRs rather than requiring Mr A to pursue the merchant. While Wise's failure to do so caused inconvenience and frustration, particularly while Mr A was travelling, the ombudsman found that Mr A's own conduct during the complaint process—including his agitated tone, interruptions, and continued engagement with Wise despite being aware of his right to refer to the FOS—contributed to the ineffectiveness of the service. The ombudsman determined that raising a complaint inherently involves inconvenience and that Mr A did not adequately mitigate his losses. Therefore, compensation for distress and inconvenience was not warranted, though the refund with interest was ordered to address the financial loss and delay.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website