Bank slow and unhelpful in the face of customer’s difficulties following unauthorised transactions

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Bank slow and unhelpful in the face of customer’s difficulties following unauthorised transactions

Categories:

Direct debits,

Summary:

In March 2024, Marley noticed three transactions totalling $860 on her debit card that she had not authorised. She contacted the bank straight away, and it said it would investigate. Marley had little income and lived from week to week, so the withdrawal of $860 had a significant effect on her finances. She explained this to the bank, but it said it might take up to 60 days to investigate the transactions she was disputing. After 60 days, Marley had still not heard anything and called the bank. It said it was still investigating the matter. About six weeks later, $641, the value of two of the transactions, turned up in her account without explanation. Marley pressed the bank about the third transaction over the following weeks, but it was unable to say when it would complete its investigation. Marley asked us to investigate.

Published:

October 2024

Our investigation

Soon after we began our investigation, the bank acknowledged it had handled Marley's case badly. It said the final amount of $219 would be paid into her account and offered $1,250 as compensation for the stress and inconvenience it had caused. This appeared to be a fair offer, but we learned Marley had missed repayments on her bank loan as a result of the unauthorised transactions. We also discovered she had told the bank at the outset that the loss of this money from her account would affect her ability to make repayments – to which the bank said it could do nothing to help her. Confronted with this information, the bank increased its offer to $1,500.