HSBC UK BANK PLC · DRN-6204423

The complaint Mrs B is unhappy that HSBC UK BANK PLC (HSBC) does not always collect her Direct Debit (DD) for her credit card payment on the 15th day of each month. When I refer to what Mrs B or HSBC have said or done, it should also be taken to include things said or done on their behalf. What happened In summary, Mrs B is unhappy that additional interest was charged on her credit card account with HSBC when her DD was not taken on 15th of each month. Mrs B said she set up a DD to be taken on the 15th day of each month, however, in certain months this has been taken at a later date in the month. Mrs B said that because of this she has been charged more interest over a number of years. Mrs B was unhappy with this, so she raised a complaint with HSBC. On 2 April 2025, HSBC wrote to Mrs B. In this correspondence they said that as a policy they only have the facility to provide 20 credit card billing cycles. This means Mrs B’s statement date and payment due date (i.e. when her payment is collected by DD) can vary from month to month. HSBC said they acknowledge her feedback that this has caused unnecessary confusion and concern, as well as caused additional interest to be accrued than otherwise would not have been if her payment was collected on her preferred date each time. In this correspondence HSBC also said that they are currently working on an overhaul of their credit card system, with the intention of changing the way they collect payments. Unfortunately, they said they cannot say how long this may take to implement. However, as a gesture of goodwill, HSBC said they paid £100 to Mrs B’s credit card in acknowledgement of the interest costs incurred and the trouble caused. They apologised that Mrs B has been misinformed that her credit card statement date would be on the 27th of each month as this date can vary and like Mrs B’s payment date it is not set to a specific day in the month. HSBC also said they have sent feedback to the manager of HSBC staff member who misinformed Mrs B of this plus, they said, they paid an extra £50 as compensation to apologise for any concern and inconvenience caused. HSBC said they changed the cycle on Mrs B’s credit card so the payment date falls closer to the 15th of each month. HSBC also explained that in the future, Mrs B can make manual payments to her card and call them to reverse any pending DD, if preferred. Mrs B was unhappy with HSBC’s response. As a result, she brought her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Financial Ombudsman). Our investigator felt that HSBC was not required to take any further action in relation to this complaint.

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Mrs B did not accept the investigator’s outcome. As such, 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. In considering what is fair and reasonable, I need to take into account the relevant rules, guidance, the law, and, where appropriate, what would be considered to have been good industry practice at the relevant time. I know Mrs B has provided a lot of information and I have considered it all. However, I have summarised this complaint briefly, in less detail than has been provided, and largely in my own words. No discourtesy is intended by this. If there is something I have not mentioned, I have not ignored it. I have not commented on every individual detail. But I have focussed on those that are central to me reaching, what I think is, the right outcome. This reflects the informal nature of the Financial Ombudsman as a free alternative to the courts. In addition, in this decision I only focused on the aspects I can look into. I am only looking at the events that have been raised by Mrs B with HSBC, the ones they had an opportunity to address in their correspondence sent to her in on 2 April 2025. First, I should explain that how HSBC chooses to setup their credit card operating model is an internal matter decided by them. It is not within the remit of the Financial Ombudsman to tell HSBC how it should structure its internal processes. However, what I can look at is if the process in question meant Mrs B was treated unfairly or unreasonably. With the above in mind, I considered if HSBC gave Mrs B enough information so that she could understand how her credit account works and was she able to make informed decisions regarding her account. HSBC provided us a copy of what the terms and conditions would have been for Mrs B account in 2011. In this document, there is not a lot of information clearly explaining how their credit card cycle works. However, I think, this does not change the matter at hand. I agree with the investigator that by 2021 Mrs B, most likely, would have already been aware how the statement cycle works because she would have been using her credit card and receiving statements for a long time by then. During the preceding months she would have been provided with statements, and she would have known that the statement dates and payment due dates change from month to month. As such, through these Mrs B most likely would have been aware that payment was due around every 25 days from the statement date. I also wanted to consider what HSBC DD mandate would have said; however, HSBC did not provide us with a copy of the DD mandate for when Mrs B set up her DD. This is not unreasonable considering the passage of time. However, when considering how HSBC credit card operating model operates, I think, on balance, that direct debit mandate would not have said that it is possible to always have a DD collected exactly on a given date. In addition, I have taken into consideration what Mrs B said about not being a financial expert. As such, she would not have known that she might have been incurring additional interest when the DD was being collected later than she would have wanted. However, I have not seen enough evidence that would allow me to say that based on this, on balance, Mrs B would have done something different regarding her DD collection or would have changed her credit account all together.

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Even if HSBC misinformed Mrs B at set up about her DD payments being collected on the same day, I think, most likely, in the following month Mrs B would have been aware that this is not correct as the DD did not come out on the 15th, as she would have expected it to. As such, I think she would have question it then, or at least much sooner than she did. Hence, if Mrs B was mis-informed, I think most likely, she would have only been impacted by that one month. As such, I think the total compensation of £150 paid by HSBC to Mrs B is more than fair and reasonable to compensate for the impact the potential misinformation about DD dates, and later, about credit card statement dates, had on Mrs B. While I sympathise with Mrs B for the difficulties that she is experiencing, based on all the information available in this case, I do not think it is fair or reasonable for me to require HSBC to take any further action regarding her complaint. My final decision My final decision is that I do not uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs B to accept or reject my decision before 27 April 2026. Mike Kozbial Ombudsman

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