Monzo has been fined £21 million by the Financial Conduct Authority for inadequate financial crime controls. An investigation revealed that Monzo allowed customers to register for accounts using implausible addresses, including government buildings. The failure to monitor onboarding and transactions persisted as customer numbers rose sharply from 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022. Monzo consistently breached rules regarding high-risk customer accounts, exhibiting lax controls that enabled customers to register using PO boxes, non-UK addresses, or shared addresses.
Monzo's financial crime controls were so inadequate that customers registered with implausible addresses, such as Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street, without detection.
The FCA found Monzo consistently breached rules regarding the onboarding of high-risk customers, demonstrating a failure in compliance and enforcement.
The investigation revealed that Monzo's onboarding process relied on weak controls, allowing high-risk individuals to open accounts with questionable information.
This situation exposed significant vulnerabilities in Monzo's internal controls, which could not keep pace with the rapid growth in customer numbers.
Collection
[
|
...
]