Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Barclays refused to refund £4,134.00 in unauthorised transactions after he claimed to have lost his phone on a train in December 2025. Barclays declined to refund the disputed transactions, and an investigator agreed they were likely authorised by Mr B. The ombudsman found that all five transactions required Mr B's registered device, correct card details, and multi-factor authentication through his Barclays app, with the IP address matching previous genuine account activity. Mr B provided inconsistent explanations and failed to offer a plausible account of how a third party could have accessed his account. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the transactions required Mr B's registered device, correct card details, and security credentials to access his Barclays app. The IP address used matched previous genuine activity on the account. The same device was used for other undisputed transactions and to report disputes to another bank. Mr B's inconsistent testimony and lack of plausible explanation for how a third party could access the account without his knowledge led the ombudsman to conclude the transactions were authorised by Mr B.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website