The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services has dismissed a complaint alleging that a customer was charged three times for a €488.34 flight booking made using a Crypto.com prepaid card, but still ordered the card issuer to pay €250 in compensation after finding that flaws in its transaction display had caused genuine confusion.

In a decision delivered on 5th June 2026, the Arbiter considered a complaint against Foris MT Limited, the Malta-based entity behind Crypto.com's prepaid card services. The complainant had claimed that the €488.34 booking, made in July 2025, appeared to have been debited three times and sought a refund of €976.68, representing what he believed were two duplicate charges.

However, Foris explained that only one payment had ultimately been processed. According to the company, one of the additional entries represented the reversal of an erroneously duplicated charge, meaning the second and third entries cancelled each other out, leaving only the original payment. It supported its position with account statements showing that the customer's balance returned to its original level once the reversal had been completed.

The company also acknowledged that its interface contained a "design flaw" that failed to clearly distinguish between charges and refunds, admitting that this could mislead customers. It said improvements to the presentation of transactions were being considered.

During the proceedings, the Arbiter placed particular emphasis on the account balance after each transaction rather than the transaction list alone. While the complainant provided records showing three negative entries, the Arbiter noted that these did not include the resulting account balances. By contrast, Foris submitted a detailed breakdown showing the progression from pre-authorisation to settlement and the subsequent reversal of the duplicate entry, demonstrating that only one payment had ultimately been deducted.

The Arbiter therefore concluded that no duplicate charging had occurred and dismissed the complaint.

Nevertheless, the decision found that the provider's admitted design flaw had contributed directly to the misunderstanding. Recognising the stress and additional effort the customer had endured in pursuing the complaint, the Arbiter ordered Foris to pay a token €250 in compensation for the inconvenience caused.