The Bangkok South Civil Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by TMBThanachart Bank (TTB) against a customer accused of failing to repay a 370,000-baht credit card debt resulting from an unauthorized transaction.
The court determined that the bank was at fault due to inadequate security measures, absolving the customer of any liability.
This verdict, announced on Friday by Itthaboon Onwongsa, deputy secretary-general of the Thailand Consumers Council (TCC), represents a major victory for consumer rights. The TCC provided legal support to the customer throughout the case.
The incident originated in May 2023, when the customer fell victim to a scam involving a impersonator posing as a government official. The victim was lured into downloading a malicious app, which granted remote access to their mobile device. The scammer then withdrew 297,000 baht from the customer’s credit card. With interest and fees, TTB later pursued the customer for a total of 371,608.56 baht.
The court ruled that TTB failed to fulfill its responsibilities as a financial service provider under the Payment Systems Act BE 2560 (2017), which mandates banks to establish effective safeguards against unauthorized transactions. The ease with which the scammer accessed the account and made a large withdrawal highlighted significant security lapses within the bank’s system.
Furthermore, the court noted that the customer had no prior record of large cash advances, making the sudden transaction suspicious. The bank should have flagged or blocked the transaction, but failed to do so. Its attempt to shift blame onto the customer was deemed irresponsible and unfair.
The court also referenced guidelines from the Bank of Thailand (BoT), which require financial institutions to fully compensate fraud victims when no negligence is evident on the part of the account holder. TTB failed to show that it had adhered to these protocols or taken appropriate preventative measures.
Significantly, the court confirmed that the stolen funds remained under the bank’s control and that the customer was not responsible for the loss. It criticized the bank’s reliance on standard contractual clauses to justify the debt, ruling such practices violated consumer protection laws.
“This ruling marks a significant victory for consumers,” said Mr. Itthaboon. “It sends a strong message that individuals should not be held accountable for failures in a service provider’s security systems.”