The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Monzo Bank Ltd GBP 21,091,300 for inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls between October 2018 and August 2020, and for repeatedly breaching a requirement that restricted it from opening accounts for high-risk customers between August 2020 and June 2022. Monzo’s customer base grew almost tenfold from around 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022, but its controls did not keep pace. The FCA found weaknesses in customer onboarding, customer risk assessment and transaction monitoring, which led to the FCA requiring a comprehensive independent review of Monzo’s financial crime framework in August 2020 and imposing a requirement not to onboard high-risk customers; despite this, Monzo signed up over 34,000 high-risk customers during the restriction period. The FCA noted examples of onboarding based on limited or implausible information, including the use of well known London landmarks as addresses. Monzo has since completed a financial crime change programme aligned to the independent review recommendations, and the FCA noted the penalty reflects a 30% settlement discount from GBP 30,130,475.
Financial Conduct Authority 2025-12-05
Financial Conduct Authority fines Monzo Bank GBP 21.1m for anti-financial crime control failings and breaches of a high-risk onboarding restriction
The Financial Conduct Authority fined Monzo Bank Ltd GBP 21,091,300 for inadequate anti-financial crime systems from October 2018 to August 2020 and breaching restrictions on opening accounts for high-risk customers from August 2020 to June 2022. Despite a tenfold increase in its customer base, Monzo's controls failed to keep pace, leading to weaknesses in onboarding, risk assessment, and transaction monitoring. The penalty reflects a 30% settlement discount from GBP 30,130,475 following Monzo's completion of a financial crime change programme.