Barclays Bank UK Plc · DRN-6013703

The complaint Mr O complains that Barclays Bank UK Plc trading as Barclaycard (‘Barclaycard’) reported a late payment marker on his credit file. He’d like this to be removed. What happened Mr O complained he paid his credit card within the grace period, but Barclaycard still reported a late payment on his credit file. Barclaycard said the grace period didn’t apply to consecutive late payments, so they wouldn’t change their credit reporting. They apologised for closing Mr O’s complaint too early and paid him £25 to recognise this. Mr O then came to the Financial Ombudsman Service, explaining how the late payment marker was affecting his job and mental health. After reviewing the evidence, our investigator thought Barclaycard had followed their policy correctly and didn’t need to make any changes. Mr O disagreed and sought an ombudsman’s decision. He said Barclaycard hadn’t reported his past late payments and that it was important to correct his credit file. 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. I’ve taken into account any relevant law and regulations, the regulator’s rules, guidance and standards, codes of practice and (where appropriate) what is considered to have been good industry practice at the relevant time. The parties should note I have not responded to every individual point raised – I am not required to do this – but I reassure both parties I have reviewed all the available evidence and submissions and focused on what I consider to be relevant to resolving this matter. I am sorry to disappoint Mr O but I agree with the findings of our investigator, and I’m not asking Barclaycard to take any action on this occasion. I’ll explain why. The Financial Ombudsman Service doesn’t have the power to make rules for financial businesses, in terms of directing that they should change their policies or procedures. That is the role of the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’). So I can’t interfere with Barclaycard’s grace-period rules. Barclaycard refer to the grace period on their website. This says: “In certain cases we won’t report the late payment to credit reference agencies. Your credit score won’t be affected if you meet both of these two conditions: • We received your previous monthly payment on time, which means it arrived in your account on or before your payment due date

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• You get your payment to us within 14 days of your payment due date. Your payment due date counts as day one of the 14 days.” On 3 March 2025 Barclaycard wrote to Mr O about missing his payment due on 21 February 2025. Barclaycard said: “If you’ve previously been up to date with your payments and you’re able to make a payment within 14 days of your payment due date, then your credit file won’t be affected.” Mr O paid the amount due on 21 February 2025 by 5 March 2025, within the 14 day grace period. Barclaycard didn’t report a late payment for February 2025, which I think was fair. Mr O then missed his 24 March 2025 payment but paid a few days later. But because his February 2025 payment hadn’t been made on time, he didn’t meet the first condition of the policy. So I agree with our investigator that it was fair for Barclaycard to report a late payment on Mr O’s credit file for March 2025. Mr O says Barclaycard don’t apply their policy consistently and he had a legitimate expectation that they wouldn’t report late payments made within 14 days of the due date. I don’t agree that Barclaycard misled Mr O about how the grace period would apply in March 2025. They had already written to him explaining the circumstances in which late payments would be reported, and the same information was available on their website. So I’m satisfied that Barclaycard gave Mr O fair notice that the grace period would protect his credit file for the late payment in February 2025, but not for a late payment in March 2025. Having reviewed Mr O’s account during the latter part of 2024, I can see he did make some payments late, but he always managed to bring the account back up to date. I’m aware he was having problems with his direct debit and he says he had discussed personal difficulties with Barclaycard at the time. Barclaycard continue to report his account as up to date for 2024 and, following a review, say they have no reason to change this. Mr O wants to avoid any negative information on his credit file so I don’t think Barclaycard’s position is unfair. I understand how important it is to Mr O to have the March 2025 late payment removed, especially given the impact it has had on his mental health and work applications. I’m sorry to hear the difficulties this situation has caused him, and I recognise how challenging it is to progress in his chosen career. However, I can only ask Barclaycard to make changes where they’ve acted unfairly or made an error, and in this case I don’t think they have. So I won’t be asking Barclaycard to take any further action. If Mr O feels it would be helpful, he can contact the credit reference agencies to ask them to add a notice of correction to his credit file, providing context for the March 2025 late payment. My final decision For the reasons I’ve outlined, I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr O to accept or reject my decision before 21 April 2026. Clare Burgess-Cade Ombudsman

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