Unusual activity on their joint current account meant the bank wouldn't lift payment restrictions without proof of identification in branch.
What happened
Tesh and Iona celebrated their wedding with a big party at a hotel. Unfortunately, during the festivities, Tesh lost his wallet and his cards were used to make unauthorised contactless payment from the couple’s joint account.
A week later, while the couple were on honeymoon, Tesh wanted to pay into an investment before a deadline. He called the bank and was told his account was working normally. He asked to talk to his private banking manager because he needed advice about the procedure. But his private banking manager wasn’t available and didn’t return any of his calls.
When Tesh came home he went straight to a bank branch. There he discovered that – contrary to what he’d been told – his account still had restrictions. He showed proof of identity and got the blocks on his account lifted.
But Tesh and Iona had missed the deadline for the investment they’d wanted to make, which went on to perform very well. As a result, they felt they’d lost out on making a substantial sum.
Tesh was annoyed that his private banking manager hadn’t returned his call to sort out things when he’d been away. He complained to the bank and, unhappy with their response, came to us.
What we said
We listened to both sides of the story and considered the law, regulations and guidance.
Tesh and Iona’s bank admitted that his private banking manager hadn’t returned his calls. But, it said, its Private Banking team wouldn’t have been able to lift the blocks anyway. The only way to do that was to visit a branch as its Fraud Department had advised.
We agreed that the bank had a right to intervene when it saw instructions for a payment that seemed unusual on Tesh and Iona’s joint account. So, we didn’t think the bank had done anything wrong by asking for more information. And we didn’t think we could fairly say the bank was responsible for Tesh and Iona losing out on an investment opportunity.
But it was clear that the bank had not given Tesh and Iona good service. His private banking manager hadn’t returned any of his calls. And he was given the wrong information about his account when he called while on honeymoon.
We told the bank to pay Tesh and Iona compensation for distress and inconvenience.