UK Body Probes Monzo Bank For Breaching Money Laundering Rules

Digital bank Monzo is being investigated by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over potential breaches of financial crime regulations, the bank disclosed, BBC reported.

Photo Insert: The digital bank claims that they make the right decision in freezing accounts 95% of the time

The financial watchdog sent letters to several retail banks including Monzo in May, warning of failings in their anti-money laundering controls. Monzo said it was complying fully with the FCA's investigation. This comes on the back of customer complaints Monzo received in 2020.

A Monzo spokesperson said the bank took the prevention of financial crime "extremely seriously."

He added: "Over the past year we have made major investments in our controls in this area as a priority and will continue to invest heavily in this part of the business. The FCA's investigation remains at an early stage. Our operations are unaffected and we remain committed to serving our customers."

In 2020, hundreds of Monzo customers claimed they were left without access to money when their accounts were suddenly frozen during the first coronavirus lockdown, according to the UK newspaper Guardian.

In response to the Guardian investigation, the mobile app-based challenger bank unblocked a customer's account and apologized, saying "we don't always get this right."

However, it said that in 95% of cases, it had made the right decision in freezing accounts.

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