Debanking Complaints Surge by 44 Percent

The financial ombudsman saw a “surge” in debanking complaints last year, including a sharp increase in small to medium businesses (SMEs) complaining about account closures. The Treasury Select Committee published data on Sunday showing that the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) had received 3,858 complaints regarding debanking in 2023/2024. This represented an increase of 44 percent on 2022/2023 and a rise of 69 percent since 2020/2021. This includes an 81 percent increase in debanking complaints made by businesses, with 666 objections made last year compared to 367 in 2022/2023. Data also showed an increase in the proportion of complaints the FOS upheld, with 36 percent of rulings being in favour of the complainant last year, compared to 27 percent or below in each of the previous three fiscal years....