Revolut Ltd · DRN-6285771

The complaint Mr H complains that Revolut Ltd has declined to refund disputed transactions that were made from his account. What happened On 11 and 12 February 2026, a number of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals totalling £2,097.80 were made using Mr H’s Revolut debit card. Mr H says these were made by an unauthorised individual after he’d lost his card, which he subsequently found the following day outside his local supermarket. Mr H said he was just glad to have his card back, and didn’t check his account’s activity until 20 February 2026, which is when he discovered the disputed withdrawals and reported them as unauthorised to Revolut. Revolut investigated the disputed withdrawals but didn’t believe it was liable for Mr H’s loss. Mr H raised a complaint, and in response, Revolut said: • The transactions were authenticated in a manner that required Mr H’s authorisation. • Mr H’s account activity around the time the transactions were made suggests that he was familiar with the transactions. • It would not be refunding the £2,097.80 • It provided details of organisations that Mr H may wish to speak to for support. Mr H referred his complaint to this service where it was considered by one of our investigators. But he wasn’t persuaded that the withdrawals were made by an unauthorised individual, as he couldn’t identify how someone would’ve known Mr H’s Personal Identification Number (PIN) without involvement from Mr H himself. He also didn’t believe Revolut should’ve flagged the disputed transactions via its fraud detection systems before they were processed. Mr H disagreed. He reiterated that the disputed transactions were made in quick succession, (£1,000 within a five-minute period). And he said whilst he didn’t know how someone else was able to learn his PIN, the most plausible explanation is that it was compromised before the card was lost, and the criminals were patient, waiting until they were able to obtain Mr H’s card to use it with the previously obtained PIN. Mr H also explained the difficulties he’s experienced following the disputed transactions, which impacted his finances as well as his mental health. As well as the disputed transactions being refunded, Mr H wants an ombudsman to consider an award of £5,000 compensation for his trouble and upset. As no agreement could be reached, the complaint has been passed to me to decide. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. Having done so, I realise this will come as a huge disappointment to Mr H, but I’ve reached the same conclusions as our investigator, for similar reasons.

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The regulations relevant to this complaint are The Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs). These say, in summary, that a payment service provider should generally refund a transaction that comes out of one of their consumer’s accounts that they didn’t authorise, and the consumer is liable for authorised ones. So I need to decide whether I think Mr H authorised the disputed transactions, either by making them himself or allowing someone else to make them on his behalf, or if they were carried out by an unauthorised individual. Here, Revolut has provided evidence that the disputed transactions were all made using Mr H’s genuine debit card rather than a ‘clone.’ And, as the withdrawals were all carried out at an ATM, I’m satisfied his PIN would’ve also been required by the person who made them. Mr H has explained he’s never documented his PIN or shared it with anyone. The last undisputed transaction where his PIN was used was nine days before the first disputed withdrawal. Mr H has suggested that whoever carried out the withdrawals, had learnt his PIN prior to targeting him for his card. Whilst this isn’t impossible, I don’t consider this the most likely explanation for several reasons. I don’t find it likely that an opportunist would observe Mr H’s PIN and then monitor his movements for an unknown period to target him for his card. As well as this, whilst it may just be a huge coincidence, 17 minutes before the first disputed withdrawal was made, Mr H’s account received a credit of £1,100 from who he says was his brother. Before this credit, Mr H’s account balance was £0, and there doesn’t appear to have been any balance enquiries before the disputed withdrawals were made on 11 February 2026. And then, the following day, Mr H’s account received a second credit, this time for £1,000, from another individual, and just 5 minutes after this happened, more disputed withdrawals were made after a period of no activity. Again, whilst this may just be a coincidence, this activity strongly indicates awareness of the account activity. And, Mr H has told our investigator he’s not familiar with the person who sent him the £1,000 and suggested that they may have sent money as part of the fraud as the account details are on his card. That of course would mean that the £1,000 doesn’t belong to Mr H anyway and wouldn’t warrant a refund as part of his fraud claim. However, he appears to have sent this person money several times in the past. So he likely does know the sender of the £1,000, and this sheds considerable doubt on Mr H’s testimony. I also note that Mr H asked Revolut the following question on 10 January 2026, a month before the disputed transactions were made: ‘In the next few days, I will receive a large sum into my account from a new payee that I will then need to withdraw in cash using several ATM transactions in quick succession. How can I ensure my account won’t be blocked or flagged for unusual activity whilst doing this?’ This could yet be another coincidence, but I find it unusual that Mr H had planned to make withdrawals in the same manner as the ones he’s now reported as fraud, (following two large credits into his account minutes before). I was sorry to hear of the difficulties Mr H has experienced as a result of the disputed transactions. He’s told us this has impacted his finances as well as his health. I do hope Mr H is receiving the support he needs, but having considered all available evidence for this complaint, I’m not persuaded his fraud claim represents a genuine loss. I find it more likely than not that the disputed withdrawals were authorised by Mr H in some way. And so I won’t be asking Revolut to refund them or pay any compensation to Mr H. My final decision My final decision is that I don’t uphold this complaint.

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Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr H to accept or reject my decision before 12 May 2026. Lorna Wall Ombudsman

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