Virgin Money UK · Institution's own AI · severity 1 of 5
In January 2025 a Virgin Money chatbot told a customer who asked how to merge his two Virgin Money ISAs, "Please don't use words like that. I won't be able to continue with our chat if you use this language," apparently treating the bank's own name as offensive, Fortune and CX Today reported after the customer, a fintech commentator, posted a screenshot. Virgin Money apologised, confirmed he could merge the ISAs and told Fortune it "promptly removed the chatbot", calling it "one of our older chatbots" that "is not typical of our other AI customer service tools" and saying more than a single word exception was at work. A person familiar with the matter told Fortune it ran on basic natural language processing, not the bank's newer Redi assistant.
Record last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 · Markdown
Date
Jan 2025 · disclosed Jan 30, 2025
Institution
Virgin Money UK
Country
United Kingdom
AI system
Older customer-service chatbot using basic natural language processing (not Virgin Money's newer Redi assistant)
AI?
Described as AI by the institution or regulator
The institution, a regulator or a court called the system AI.
Category
Status
Resolved
Severity
1 of 5
Impact
No financial harm reported; one customer's question went unanswered by the chatbot until the bank replied publicly. · Reputational: the exchange was widely shared on LinkedIn and covered by business and trade press.
What happened?
A Virgin Money customer, a fintech commentator, asked one of the bank's chatbots: "I have two ISAs with Virgin Money, how do I merge them?" The chatbot replied: "Please don't use words like that. I won't be able to continue with our chat if you use this language," seemingly reacting to the word "virgin". He posted a screenshot on LinkedIn in January 2025, asking which words were now banned, and the post drew hundreds of reactions.[1][2]
Virgin Money apologised in a reply to the post, saying: "There's more at work than just single word exception. Rest assured, we are working on it," and that the chatbot had been scheduled for improvements. It also confirmed that the customer could merge his ISAs.[1][2]
According to a person familiar with the matter quoted by Fortune, the error came from one of Virgin Money's older models rather than Redi, the newer chatbot the bank launched in 2024, and that model used basic natural language processing. Fortune reported that Redi did not return the same error when given the same question. New Scientist's Feedback column described the assistant as apparently "programmed to avoid certain words and phrases" deemed offensive, and noted that Virgin Money apologised and withdrew it.[1][3]
When did it happen?
- Jan 2025
A Virgin Money chatbot tells a customer asking how to merge two ISAs not to use "words like that"; he posts a screenshot on LinkedIn.[1][2]
- Jan 30, 2025
Fortune reports Virgin Money's apology and the bank's statement that it promptly removed the chatbot.[1]
- Feb 12, 2025
New Scientist's Feedback column reports the episode and that Virgin Money withdrew the outdated chatbot.[3]
What was the impact?
- Customers: No financial harm reported; one customer's question went unanswered by the chatbot until the bank replied publicly.[1][2]
- Other: Reputational: the exchange was widely shared on LinkedIn and covered by business and trade press.[1][2]
Severity 1 of 5: Contained: one embarrassing exchange with no financial harm; the bank apologised, answered the customer's question and removed the chatbot.
How did Virgin Money UK respond?
A Virgin Money representative told Fortune: "We promptly removed the chatbot once we became aware of the issue and improvements are being made that will be coming soon for customers. While there is more at work than just single word exception, this is one of our older chatbots that had been scheduled for improvements and is not typical of our other AI customer service tools."[1]
What was the outcome, and did regulators act?
Virgin Money removed the chatbot that produced the response and said improvements were coming. No regulator action has been reported as of 21 October 2026. Virgin Money was acquired by Nationwide in October 2024, Fortune noted.[1][3]
What did the Virgin Money chatbot say?
Asked by a customer in January 2025 how to merge his two Virgin Money ISAs, the chatbot replied: "Please don't use words like that. I won't be able to continue with our chat if you use this language," apparently treating the word "virgin" in the bank's own name as offensive.
What did Virgin Money do about the chatbot?
Virgin Money apologised, confirmed the customer could merge his ISAs and told Fortune it had promptly removed the chatbot once it became aware of the issue, adding that improvements were coming and that more than a single word exception was at work in the error.
Was the Virgin Money chatbot AI?
Virgin Money called it one of its older chatbots that is "not typical of our other AI customer service tools". A person familiar with the matter told Fortune it used basic natural language processing rather than Redi, the bank's newer chatbot, which did not repeat the error.
Was anyone harmed by the Virgin Money chatbot error?
No financial harm has been reported. The episode was a public embarrassment after the customer's screenshot spread on LinkedIn; the bank answered his ISA question directly, and no regulator action has been reported as of October 2026.
When AI goes wrong at a bank, the next morning's brief says so.
when one of these regulators moves, the next morning's brief says so · six sourced stories · 7 am PT · free
plus every regulation, bank and agent page update, the morning after · leave any morning