Santander fined £32.8m for ‘serious failings’ in processing accounts of deceased customers

Santander has been fined £32.8m for “serious failings” in processing the accounts of deceased customers as thousands of families were left waiting for their inheritance.

The bank failed to transfer more than £183m to the beneficiaries of dead customers when it should have done, the Financial Conduct Authority ruled.

In some cases funds were kept from relatives and beneficiaries for “many years”.

More than 40,000 customers were affected and the bank was also criticised for failing to disclose the issues with its probate and bereavement process to the FCA once it had become aware of the problems.

FCA executive director of enforcement Mark Steward said: “These failings took too long to be identified and then far too long to be fixed.

“To the firm’s credit, once these problems were notified to the board and senior management, they were fixed properly and promptly. But recognition of the problem took too long.”

The bank, which said it has carried out a “root and branch review”, did not contest the findings and the FCA’s original £46.8m fine was slashed by 30 per cent.

Santander UK chief executive Nathan Bostock said: “Santander is very sorry for the impact these failings have had on the families and beneficiaries affected.”

He added: “We have now transferred the majority of customer funds and made significant improvements to our whole probate and bereavement process, ensuring we provide both a sensitive and efficient service to our bereaved customer representatives and those who are managing the estates of people who have passed away.”