Banking and payments
If you have a problem with your bank account, payment service or a transaction, we may be able to help.
If you’ve been affected by a fraud or scam, we share information about how we resolve complaints about fraud and scams.
On this page
Handling banking and payments complaints?
See our guidance for businesses on complaints about banking and payments.
What is banking and payments?
Banking and payment services include things like current accounts, savings accounts, direct debits, money transfers, electronic payment platforms, cheques and banker’s drafts.
We help resolve complaints about issues such as account closures, disputed transactions, IT failures, and problems with switching services.
Bringing your complaint to us
Our service is free and easy to use.
When you bring a complaint to us about a mortgage, it's our job to weigh up all the facts. We’ll make a decision about what happened using evidence from you, the financial business and any relevant third parties. We'll also consider:
- the relevant law
- any regulations that applied at the time
- any industry codes of conduct that were in force at the time
When we've finished investigating, we’ll tell you whether we think the business treated you fairly or not. And we’ll explain how we reached our decision.
If we think the business treated you unfairly, we'll tell them to put you back where you'd be if they hadn't made a mistake. We might also ask them to make an award for any distress and inconvenience caused.
How long it takes
The time it takes for us to investigate a complaint depends on what it's about, how complex it is and how quickly we can get all the information we need. For most types of banking and payments complaints, it takes one to two months for us to allocate cases, but it can sometimes take longer.
We’re working hard to reduce the time it takes to allocate cases for investigation, so you may hear from us sooner than this.
- If you’re facing financial hardship or severe ill health, please let us know.
- The Money Advice Service website has a list of online debt advice services where you can get immediate and personalised help, if you’re experiencing financial difficulties.
What is your complaint about?
People come to us with complaints about banking and payments, which include things like problems with current accounts, direct debits, or IT issues that stop people from accessing their accounts.
For information about how we can help with a complaint about a specific type of banking and payment service, use the links below.
