How to escalate a payment provider complaint
Send the payment provider a written complaint with a transfer timeline, evidence of loss and the remedy you want. Track the applicable response deadline, then ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to check whether it can consider your unresolved case. Ask for supplier-side records from Cambridge China Bridge.
Identify the provider and the disputed failure
Use the provider's terms and account paperwork to identify the legal entity handling your transfer. Record the account holder, transfer reference, beneficiary, currency and disputed action. Explain whether the problem concerns a delay, return, fee, exchange rate or handling of a recall request.
Keep payment tracing separate from complaint escalation. Use international payment delays and returns for the operational checks. If you suspect a changed beneficiary or fraudulent instruction, also follow supplier bank transfer fraud promptly.
Document the loss and its cause
Build a dated timeline from the payment instruction to the latest provider response. Keep statements, transfer confirmations, the quoted exchange rate, charges, supplier invoices and messages confirming receipt or non-receipt. Ask the supplier for bank evidence rather than relying only on a message saying the payment is missing.
Create a loss schedule showing each cost, its currency, supporting document and connection to the alleged failure. Separate money still being traced from confirmed charges, replacement-payment costs and claimed business losses. Deduct refunds and recoveries, explain any currency conversion and mark estimates clearly. Include steps taken to limit further loss.
Submit a clear formal complaint
Use the provider's published complaints channel. State that this is a formal complaint, identify your business and account, describe the failure and attach an indexed evidence pack. Specify the remedy sought, such as tracing the payment, explaining deductions, returning disputed charges or considering documented loss.
Ask for a complaint reference, confirmation of receipt and the response timetable being applied. Keep the sent message and delivery confirmation. After a telephone discussion, send a written record of what was agreed. Ask the provider to address each disputed point in its final response.
Track the response and referral deadlines
For payment-service complaints, the FCA describes a response within 15 business days in most cases. Its complaint guidance gives a final-response deadline of 35 business days from the initial complaint where the provider cannot give its final response earlier. Ask which timetable covers your complaint, especially if it combines payment handling with another service.
If the response is unsatisfactory or the applicable response period has passed, you can approach the Financial Ombudsman Service, subject to its eligibility checks. Normally refer within six months of the date of the provider's final response letter. Record that date and act promptly instead of letting further correspondence consume the referral period.
Establish eligibility and prepare the referral
The Ombudsman checks whether its rules and powers allow it to investigate. Prepare your business accounts, turnover, balance-sheet information, staffing records and ownership structure. Use its small-business eligibility checker, then ask it to confirm any uncertainty about your business, the provider or the transfer. Describe connected businesses and any overseas account or provider entity.
Prepare the original complaint, evidence of receipt, final response or evidence that the response period has passed, timeline and loss schedule. Explain which findings you dispute and what remains unresolved. For future provider selection, use comparing banks and payment providers.
Frequently asked questions
What evidence should I send with my payment complaint?
Send the transfer instruction, confirmation, statements, supplier receipt evidence, correspondence and a loss schedule. Connect each claimed cost to the disputed failure and deduct recoveries.
How long does a payment provider have to respond?
The FCA describes 15 business days in most payment-service cases, with a final response within 35 business days where an earlier final response is unavailable. Ask the provider to confirm the applicable timetable.
Can my business use the Financial Ombudsman?
Ask the Ombudsman to check eligibility. Have accounts, staffing and ownership records ready, and identify the provider entity and service. Do not assume that a business account automatically qualifies.
When should I refer an unresolved complaint?
Approach the Ombudsman after an unsatisfactory response or expiry of the applicable response period. Normally refer within six months of the date of the final response letter.