Citibank does not have a large presence in the UK, but it is my bank, and I have had a problem with them refusing to cancel a continuous payment authority.

I decided I didn't want to carry on paying £20 a month to an organisation, but they refused to cancel it, saying it was technically impossible. I lost £20 because of that, and to stop it happening again I cancelled my card.

I've complained to the FOS who have now got to the stage of forwarding my complaint to Citibank. I'm claiming £21 including postage fees. Just £21.

I just don't understand this. Banks have to pay the FOS £550 per complaint whether they win or lose the complaint. It would be cheaper to give me my £21 than pay £550 - and yet on principle they have refused to pay me the £21

They claim the direct debit agreement means that they have to pay any debits on the card that come through, but I sent the bank a printout from the FOS website showing the FOS has previously ruled this to be an inappropriate response. I hope the FOS continue with their approach when it comes to my case.

Let me just clarify these are not direct debits. The bank didn't refer to the direct debit agreement but rather the agreement governing use of the card (probably their agreement with VISA).

Citibank said these are actually not CPAs. But I understand that banks say this all the time when refusing to cancel CPAs. As a CPA is just an authority that the company can take any amount at any time in the future, it doesn't have to be announced to the bank as a recurring payment from day one - as long as they have your debit card number they can simply continue to debit the account. And yet the bank will say it is not a CPA.

Whatever it is - it's not legal. Fingers crossed for the FOS to bank me - I'm not asking for the world, just £21.

Stupid lot!!

Id complain to the fca too

They are one's that wrote the cpa rules

Citi cannot refuse under them either!!

Ill pop them up later

I thought the FOS and the FCA were the same? Are they separate?

they are sep orgs.

FCA write the rules

FOS are a the ombudsman.

heres the info now me servers backup...

GENERAL NOTES ON CHARGEBACK & Continuous Payment Authority & BACS

.....

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them

not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companies

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http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/- it works!

usually this should be done using the number on your debit card

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banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

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CANCELLING YOUR DEBIT CARD DOES NOT STOP CPA'S

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This fsa guide has now been updated:

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http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/consumer_info/know_your_rights_guide.pdf

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/continuous-payment-authorities-your-right-to-cancel

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-payments-account

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Here's the text:

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Cancelling a regular

card payment:

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When you give your credit or debit card details to a company and authorise them to take regular payments from your account,

such as for a gym membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’ or ‘continuous payment authority’.

.

These are often confused with direct debits, but do not offer the same guarantee if the amount or date of the payment changes.

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In most cases, regular payments can be cancelled by telling the company taking the payments.

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However,

you have the right to cancel them directly with your bank or card issuer by telling it that you have stopped permission for the payments.

Your bank or card issuer must then stop them – it has no right to insist that you agree this first with the company taking the payments.

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Be aware, though, that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

and that CANELLING YOUR CARD WILL NOT STOP THE CPA

.

..

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New june 2013

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Regulator orders Banks and mutuals to review complaints about not cancelling recurring payments from November 2009.

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Consumers who have set up a regular payment from their account will now be able to successfully cancel that arrangement

by contacting their card provider, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

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The FCA has been examining how easy it is for customers to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs)

due either to payday lendersicon or for other regular payments such as subscriptions or gymicon memberships.

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CPAs, which are also commonly called recurring transactions or recurring payments,

are relatively easy to set up but can be hard to cancel, causing problems for consumers trying to manage their finances,the FCA said.

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Now, following the FCA review of how the largest high street banks and mutuals process requests to cancel CPAs, they have agreed that they will ensure that when

a customer asks for a recurring payment to end, that will be sufficient to cancel the arrangement. They have also confirmed that should a payment go through by

mistake following cancellation by a customer the customer will be refunded immediately.

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In addition to securing this commitment, the largest banks and mutuals have agreed to review every individual complaint they have received about the non-

cancellation of a CPA and to pay redress where payments have continued to be made despite the customer cancelling the arrangement. This applies to all complaints

since November 2009 when the Financial Services Authority, the FCA’s predecessor, began regulating banking conduct.

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Clive Adamson, the FCA’s director of supervision, said: “It’s important that consumers are confident that banks are meeting their everyday banking needs. Today

customers can be confident that when they ask for a Continuous Payment Authority to be cancelled – it will be cancelled - and that it can be done easily.

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“We recognise that historically this is an area where some customers have struggled but the banks and mutuals have responded positively to our work on this issue.

From now on we expect them to be getting this right. In addition, they have committed to review past complaints.”

.

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Also mentioned your displeasure that as whomever took your money had obviously attempted this many times

probably activating your banks own anti fraud software - nobody had the decency to inform my you this was going on.?

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.In the FSA's own words:

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What should I do about a payment from my account that I didn’t authorise?

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Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction.

Money can only be taken from your account if you have authorised the transaction

or if your bank can prove you were at fault –

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see below.

Contact your bank immediately if you notice an unauthorised payment from your account.

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If you are sure you did not authorise the payment, you can claim a refund.

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However, your bank does not have to refund you if you do not tell it about the payment until 13 months

or more after the date it left your account.

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Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction

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------------------

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Your bank may only refuse a refund for an unauthorised transaction if:

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? it can prove you authorised the transaction

– though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password,

card and PIN proves you authorised a payment; or

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? it can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently,

or because you deliberately,

or with gross negligence, failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction

.

-----------------------

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How quickly must my bank refund me for an unauthorised transaction?

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The bank must make the refund immediately unless it has evidence that one of the above reasons applies.

Your bank may ask you to answer some questions and fill out a form confirming what has happened,

but it cannot delay your refund while it waits for you to return the form.

If the bank has evidence that one of the above reasons for refusing a refund applies,

it may investigate before making a refund

but must look into it as quickly as possible.

If your bank rejects your claim for a refund it should explain why.

If the transaction was on a credit card, the refund may not happen immediately.

But the card issuer cannot charge interest or ask for repayment of the amount unless it can prove you are liable to pay

Thank you. I'm rather glad the bank will have to pay £550 for an FOS complaint regardless of outcome - when the dispute is only over £21!!!! Honestly, it would have been cheaper to give the £21.