Case Study 4

A bank sent out a new credit card and PIN to a customer but it was sent to an old address and was taken by a fraudster and used fraudulently.

By the time the customer realised, he had lost €2,000. The customer claimed the bank was responsible because he had notified it of his change of address in relation to his current account and assumed the bank would apply the change to his credit card account, but it did not.

The ombudsman decided that the primary obligation was on the customer to ensure his change of address was registered on all accounts with the bank. However, there was also a duty of care on the bank to give guidance. Mr Meade found the customer was largely to blame for what occurred and he ordered the bank to pay €4,500 of the €12,000 stolen to the customer.