Blocking accounts, Monzo stripping rights and legal oversight?

[awjdean]

@phildawson

@jph why don’t you ask Monzo directly for an official statement rather than ask a bunch of customers in the forum?

To be fair, posting on this forum is a method of trying to obtain an official statement.

[phildawson (Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)]

I’d like to think Monzo actively monitor threads but they are seriously understaffed.

[Rat_au_van (Em)]

it’s a bank holiday weekend, I hope all the staff are busy doing other things

[phildawson (Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)]

I kinda meant in general, there’s like a handful of staff dealing with hundreds of threads everyday. It’s incredibly lightly monitored for the 40,000+ forum users.

You could ask on chat but you might have a seven day wait based on the current response times.

[anon28680395]

@awjdean

@anon28680395

I’m also pretty sure that the Head of Risk/Compliance will go on the record to say that they have to have reasonable evidence before taking such action and don’t have a feather trigger finger in order to save their own skin. Again, that’s not how these things work.

• I meant that the Head of Risk/Compliance is personally liable if Monzo are found to be negligent in preventing illegal activity occur using their accounts.

I know. That’s why I replied as I did.

@awjdean

@anon28680395

Please refer to the bullets above.

So is your issue solely with how that blog post is worded?

Because Monzo are definitely not “collaborating with law enforcement to strip away financial rights” since the law says Monzo have to freeze any account that Monzo think might be being used for illegal activity.

My issue is the same one it has been consistently in this thread from the first post to the last.

They have chosen (twice) a particular wording that provides them the option to “strip away rights”. They avoided using a perfectly natural alternative formulation as I discussed in the first post.

You or I cannot say either way whether they are doing this but it’s not right for you to say they are “definitely not” doing it when they have chosen a formulation that allows them to do so as I have shown over and over and over again.

As Rat_au_van says, I’m pretty sure I’ve explained myself fully by now so it’s probably up to Monzo to clarify rather than people earnestly trying to explain things to me unrelated to what I actually asked.

[anon28680395]

@phildawson

@anon28680395 why don’t you ask Monzo directly for an official statement rather than ask a bunch of customers in the forum? You’ll just get peoples opinions and interpretations here. I don’t see how that can be useful.

Like most people asking things on these forums, I asked because someone might have some insight or know something I don’t

In fact, someone said “There’s been extensive discussion of all these points and questions before” but unfortunately they have not returned to illuminate us yet

[awjdean]

@anon28680395

They have chosen (twice) a particular wording that provides them the option to “strip away rights”. They avoided using a perfectly natural alternative formulation as I discussed in the first post.

You or I cannot say either way whether they are doing this but it’s not right for you to say they are “definitely not” doing it when they have chosen a formulation that allows them to do so as I have shown over and over and over again.

It’s a blog post trying to explain a subject in simple terms to people who might have little to no knowledge of banking, it’s not a legal document…

[anon28680395]

@awjdean

@anon28680395

They have chosen (twice) a particular wording that provides them the option to “strip away rights”. They avoided using a perfectly natural alternative formulation as I discussed in the first post.

You or I cannot say either way whether they are doing this but it’s not right for you to say they are “definitely not” doing it when they have chosen a formulation that allows them to do so as I have shown over and over and over again.

It’s a blog post trying to explain a subject in simple terms to people who might have little to no knowledge of banking, it’s not a legal document…

As I explained, it appears to be a deliberate decision to choose that rather than the simple alternative I proposed. If not then the clarification I asked for would be helpful. That was precisely the point of this thread.

Also, you seem to be making the point that Monzo shouldn’t be freezing accounts unless they are specifically asked to freeze an account by law enforcement, which isn’t true because the law says that Monzo have to freeze any accounts they believe could be being used for illegal activities.

As I’ve made clear over and over I have NEVER made that point and none of my words have been close to saying that.

In fact I explicitly said multiple times:

loud and clear: I am certainly not querying complying with legislation .

[awjdean]

To be fair, it could also be that the person who wrote the blog post didn’t think their wording would be an issue.

Also, you seem to be making the point that Monzo shouldn’t be freezing accounts unless they are specifically asked to freeze an account by law enforcement, which isn’t true because the law says that Monzo have to freeze any accounts they believe could be being used for illegal activities.

[anon41219820]

Just in case anyone isn’t aware, we tend to stay away from Financial crime and fraud threads on the forum, you can read more about why at the aforementioned link.

I appreciate there is concern around the wording of a blog post and I will pass it back to ensure that we are happy with the content and meaning of that post

Have a great bank holiday weekend