Latest news with #digitalBanking
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Monzo fined £21m after customers use London landmarks for addresses
Digital bank Monzo has been hit with a fine exceeding £21 million by the UK's financial watchdog for anti-fraud failures, including onboarding customers with "implausible" information such as London landmarks used as addresses. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed the penalty was imposed for shortcomings in Monzo's anti-financial crime measures, with the failures dating back to between October 2018 and August 2020. The digital challenger bank also repeatedly breached a regulatory requirement, preventing it from opening accounts for over 34,000 high-risk customers between August 2020 and June 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stated. The FCA said Monzo's financial fraud systems and controls ultimately "failed to keep pace" with its rapid growth in customer numbers in recent years. Its customer base ballooned from 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022. Monzo was found to have taken on customers using using PO Boxes, foreign addresses with UK postcodes or 'obviously implausible UK addresses, such as well-known London landmarks', according to the regulator. Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said Monzo's actions 'fell far short of what we and society expect'. She said: ' Banks are a vital line of defence in the collective fight against financial crime. 'They must have the systems in place to prevent the flow of ill-gotten gains into the financial system. 'Monzo fell far short of what we and society expect. 'Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information, such as customers using well-known London landmarks as an address. 'This illustrates how lacking Monzo's financial crime controls were. 'This was compounded by its inability to properly comply with the requirement not to onboard high-risk customers.' The FCA said the fine of £21.1 million had been discounted from £30.1 million after Monzo agreed to resolve the issues. Monzo said the group has since made 'substantial improvements' in its systems and controls. TS Anil, the bank's group chief executive, said: 'The FCA's findings relate to a historical period that ended three years ago and draw a line under issues that have been resolved and are firmly in the past with our learnings at the time leading to substantial improvements in our controls. 'I'm pleased the FCA recognises the significant investments we have made, as well as our ongoing commitment to managing these risks today, as we go from strength to strength as a business approaching 13 million customers.'
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Santander slashes opening hours by 2 days for 36 bank branches
Santander has confirmed it will reduce the operating hours of 36 bank branches. The lender is slashing the opening hours by two days, with the bank citing changing customer habits as the reason for the alterations. A Santander spokesperson said: 'As customer behaviour changes, we are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future. Read more: Amazon scraps feature with millions of Fire TV Stick and Roku users warned "Our new combination of full-service branches, alongside Work Cafés, counter-free branches and reduced-hours branches, aims to provide the right balance between digital banking and face-to-face money management and guidance. 'As a business, we must move with customers and balance our investment across all the places where we interact with customers, to deliver the very best for them now and in the future. "Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers. 'However, we believe that the introduction of our new Community Bankers and the exciting plans we have for our remaining network of 349 branches and Work Cafés, alongside the rapid and innovative improvements to our award-winning mobile banking app, will provide the right balance of digital banking and human interaction when required.' Alton Banbury Barry Beeston Bicester Braintree Bury St Edmunds Caerphilly Chippenham Cirencester Cricklewood Durham Ely Grantham Great Yarmouth Harlesden Hitchin Irvine Kendal Kettering Kilmarnock Lowestoft Newark Penrith Petersfield Retford Spalding Stamford Stevenage Stroud Sudbury Trowbridge Washington Wellingborough West Bridgford Worksop Santander says it has agreed to a £2.65 billion deal to buy the TSB Banking Group. This will see Santander 'integrate' 230 TSB branches into its portfolio. This includes around 70 within a mile of existing Santander branches. Join our dedicated BirminghamLive WhatsApp community for the latest updates sent straight to your phone as they happen. You can also sign up to our Money Saving Newsletter which is sent out daily via email with all the updates you need to know on the cost of living, including DWP and HMRC changes, benefits, payments, banks, bills and shopping discounts. Get the top stories in your inbox to browse through at a time that suits you.
CNA
08-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Monzo fined $28 million by UK regulator for financial crime failings
LONDON :Britain's financial regulator has fined digital bank Monzo 21 million pounds ($28.57 million) for failings in its anti-financial crime systems, which included onboarding customers who had listed London landmarks as their address. As Monzo grew rapidly, it failed to maintain good enough controls to prevent the risk of financial crime, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a statement on Tuesday. The regulator issued a fine of 21.1 million pounds for "inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls" between October 2018 and August 2020. Monzo said the problems "have been resolved and are firmly in the past" and that it acted quickly to implement a programme to address financial crime issues in February 2021. Launched in 2015, Monzo is one of a handful of financial services apps, or "fintechs", to have emerged in Britain in the last decade, offering financial services via an app. After a 2020 review, the FCA imposed a requirement on Monzo to prevent it from opening new accounts for high-risk customers. But "between August 2020 and June 2022, it repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the requirement, including signing up over 34,000 high-risk customers," the FCA said. "Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information – such as customers using well known London landmarks as an address," Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said. ($1 = 0.7349 pounds)
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Monzo fined $28 million by UK regulator for financial crime failings
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's financial regulator has fined digital bank Monzo 21 million pounds ($28.57 million) for failings in its anti-financial crime systems, which included onboarding customers who had listed London landmarks as their address. As Monzo grew rapidly, it failed to maintain good enough controls to prevent the risk of financial crime, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a statement on Tuesday. The regulator issued a fine of 21.1 million pounds for "inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls" between October 2018 and August 2020. Monzo said the problems "have been resolved and are firmly in the past" and that it acted quickly to implement a programme to address financial crime issues in February 2021. Launched in 2015, Monzo is one of a handful of financial services apps, or "fintechs", to have emerged in Britain in the last decade, offering financial services via an app. After a 2020 review, the FCA imposed a requirement on Monzo to prevent it from opening new accounts for high-risk customers. But "between August 2020 and June 2022, it repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the requirement, including signing up over 34,000 high-risk customers," the FCA said. "Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information – such as customers using well known London landmarks as an address," Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said. ($1 = 0.7349 pounds) Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Monzo fined over £21m after anti-fraud controls ‘fell far short'
Monzo has been fined more than £21 million over anti-fraud failures that saw it take on board customers with 'implausible' information, including using London landmarks as their addresses. The UK's financial watchdog said the fine related to failures regarding anti-financial crime measures dating back to between October 2018 and August 2020. The digital challenger bank also repeatedly breached a requirement preventing it from opening accounts for over 34,000 high-risk customers between August 2020 and June 2022, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA said Monzo's financial fraud systems and controls 'failed to keep pace' with its rapid growth in customer numbers in recent years, which ballooned from 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022. Monzo was found to have taken on customers using using PO Boxes, foreign addresses with UK postcodes or 'obviously implausible UK addresses, such as well-known London landmarks', according to the regulator. Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said Monzo's actions 'fell far short of what we and society expect'. She said: 'Banks are a vital line of defence in the collective fight against financial crime. 'They must have the systems in place to prevent the flow of ill-gotten gains into the financial system. 'Monzo fell far short of what we and society expect. 'Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information, such as customers using well-known London landmarks as an address. 'This illustrates how lacking Monzo's financial crime controls were. 'This was compounded by its inability to properly comply with the requirement not to onboard high-risk customers.' The FCA said the fine of £21.1 million had been discounted from £30.1 million after Monzo agreed to resolve the issues. Monzo said the group has since made 'substantial improvements' in its systems and controls. TS Anil, the bank's group chief executive, said: 'The FCA's findings relate to a historical period that ended three years ago and draw a line under issues that have been resolved and are firmly in the past with our learnings at the time leading to substantial improvements in our controls. 'I'm pleased the FCA recognises the significant investments we have made, as well as our ongoing commitment to managing these risks today, as we go from strength to strength as a business approaching 13 million customers.'
