By Charlotte Webster-
The Competition Market Authority(CMA) has ruled against Nationwide bank, after finding that it failed to provide an estimated 51,185 Payment Transaction Histories to former PCA holders between 2 February 2018 to 17 May 2023, an investigation by the Competition Market Authority revealed.
This was due to Nationwide putting ‘no trace’ markers on certain PCAs where it was concerned that addresses were out of date.
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Article 20.7 of the Order enables providers to meet that requirement by making the Payment Transaction History available for download and providing notice to the customer of how to download it.
The investigation further showed that Nationwide failed to notify customers of how to download their Payment Transaction breaching statutory law in Article 20.7, or provide a Payment Transaction History, it breached Article 20.1 of the Order.
The requirement for current account providers to provide transaction history data to customers who had their accounts closed is an important element of our reforms introduced following the Market Investigation. This measure, in combination with other parts of our reforms, were designed to make switching between PCAs easier for consumers.
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We found that some consumers were concerned that, by moving to a new current account provider they would lose access to their banking history, which is often required by lenders when offering credit. The Order requires banks and building societies to provide each customer whose current account has been closed with a full Payment Transaction History, so that consumers should not be worried that switching will make access to credit more difficult.
Failure to comply with Part 5 of the Order could make it difficult for former customers to obtain credit and it could also deter PCA holders from switching to a provider that it is more suitable for their needs in future.
These breaches of the Order represent a substantial failure by Nationwide to ensure that it complies with all of its regulatory obligations. The CMA is concerned that Nationwide failed to implement an effective process to ensure that customers who closed their accounts would be provided with notification of how to download their Payment Transaction History
Nationwide has taken action to put things right breaches were self-reported by Nationwide and that it has proactively taken steps to prevent a recurrence. Nationwide has told the CMA that it has fixed the breaches.
Conducted regression testing to ensure that all flags and markers placed upon
accounts operate correctly in its IT system design. Initiated a project to improve its communication reconciliation controls to ensure that source IT systems are selecting the correct members, and these align to the volumes of dispatched communications.
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