Electronic money or digital currency
Do you deal with complaints about electronic money, also known as e-money, digital currency or digital cash?
This page will give you an overview of the complaints we can help with and how we approach them.
On this page
Do you have a complaint about e-money or digital currency?
Complaints we deal with
Customers of electronic money businesses come to us when they’re unhappy because:
- they didn’t receive what they paid for, or it wasn’t as described
- their e-money service:
- reversed a payment unfairly
- placed restrictions on their account
- resolved a dispute between a buyer and seller in a way they don’t think was right.
We can’t usually resolve disputes between buyers and sellers, unless the e-money service’s terms and conditions:
- allow a customer to claim a refund
- offers dispute resolution as part of the service.
Rules on electronic money services
When we look at complaints about electronic money services, we use the regulatory and legal standards that applied at the time of the event the customer is complaining about.
You’ll find rules, guidance and good practice on electronic money in:
How we resolve complaints
We only look at complaints you've had an opportunity to deal with first. If the consumer is unhappy with your decision, or you don't respond to them within the time limits, they can come to us.
Each case is different, so what we require will vary. But we’ll look at the facts and evidence from both you and your customer. What we consider will usually include:
- relevant laws, rules and regulations, guidance, standards and codes of practice that were in place when the event happened, including the Consumer Duty
- terms and conditions from the complainant’s e-money account.
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Sellers usually send goods or provide services once they’ve got confirmation that the buyer’s payment is in their account. But you may have reversed the payment if a buyer says they:
- didn’t authorise the payment
- haven’t received what they paid for.
When we consider whether you acted fairly in reversing a payment, we’ll usually take into account:
- how clearly you alerted your customer to your right to reverse a payment in the terms and conditions
- the underlying transaction that gave rise to the payment
- the seller’s account history.
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If your customer believes you’ve incorrectly or unfairly applied their account’s terms and conditions when restricting or stopping their account, we’ll look at:
- what the relevant terms and conditions say and whether they’re clear and unambiguous
- how the customer has been using their account
- how long you’ve restricted the account for
- your justification for not releasing money to the customer if you’ve frozen their account
- what effect restricting or stopping the account has had on the customer.
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Your terms and conditions may allow a buyer to claim a refund if they didn’t receive what they paid for, or it wasn’t as described.
If a buyer complains you haven’t refunded them, we’ll usually consider:
- the terms and conditions of the buyer’s e-money account
- any relevant evidence about the goods or services, such as the seller’s original description
- whether the goods or services were significantly different from the seller’s description, if relevant.
Some e-money businesses offer customers a credit facility. If a customer has used a credit facility – or credit card – to buy goods and services, they may be able to complain about the quality of those goods and services under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
However, section 75 might not apply if the customer has used a credit card to put funds into a standard e-money account and then used that account to buy something.
See our guidance on goods and services bought with credit.
We follow the FCA’s dispute resolution rules (DISP) and will take into account how you’ve tried to put things right.
If we uphold a consumer's complaint, we'll tell you what you need to do to put things right. We may also ask you to compensate them for any distress or inconvenience they’ve experienced as a result of the problem.
Case studies
Keith complains after e-money business reverses ticket payment
Banking Disputed Transactions Electronic Payments
Gillian's e-money service won't refund her account after dodgy purchase
Fraud and scams Banking Electronic Payments
Luiz's e-money business stopped him getting access to his account
Banking Electronic Payments
Business Support Hub
Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub on 020 7964 1400 for information on how we might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.
We also work with businesses and other organisations to help prevent complaints.
