Santander compensates customers after forcing them to use mobile phones
Santander has been forced to compensate customers after making it virtually impossible to bank online without using a mobile phone.
Account holders have been awarded hundreds of pounds in payouts after complaining they were being discriminated against.
The complaints related to changes the bank made in 2019 to protect against fraud, in line with new banking laws. The changes required customers to confirm their identities before they could log into their accounts or make some payments.
This was done by entering a passcode sent via text message to their mobile phones, or by clicking a button in the bank’s mobile phone app.
Customers who did not have mobile phones were told they would have to go to a branch or call up in order to get around the new systems. Crucially, unlike other banks, Santander did not initially offer other options, such as sending passwords via email, over landline phones, or allowing customers to authenticate using portable card readers.
Customers accused the bank of discrimination, particularly against the elderly, and took their complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The financial referee concluded Santander’s policies were unfair.
One disabled customer won £600 because he relied on online banking due to being housebound, but did not use a mobile because he lived in an area with poor signal.
Reader Steven Burgess, 64, from Surrey, won a £350 payout in a provisional Fos decision.
University professor David Blake, 67, from London, is waiting to hear the outcome of his own complaint and said the bank’s actions were “despicable”.
“The alternative has been going to a branch or calling up, but so many branches have been closed and phone lines in general during the pandemic have been incredibly busy,” he said.
Santander has closed more than 250 branches since 2019.
It said that since 2020, customers completing online purchases have been offered an alternative verification method.
It has since enabled customers to verify themselves via passcodes sent over email, if they do not have a mobile phone or live in an area with poor mobile signal.
