Monzo in the media

HMRC wouldn’t have anything to do with this. It’s purely the bank’s obligation to monitor suspicious activity and refer to the NCA if needed.

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Although it’s well re-iterated that it is for a “good reason” accounts are closed, the number of 1 star recent reviews in the App Store saying account blocked/closed/frozen is actually quite shocking. Especially when you read other banking apps you don’t get this problem. Although I still remain unbiased to the situation

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I expect there’s an element of Monzo’s customer base being younger/more impressionable/more likely to face financial hardships and also being more tech savvy.

So that leads to a higher likelihood of them falling for schemes which lead to accounts being closed and then know how to make noise.

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We don’t know whether or not it is more to do with Monzo. We don’t know if their account closure decisions are fair, the same as other banks, or anything else.

In terms of the media buzz though we can say that fraudsters are more likely to use a fintech because of the lower barrier to getting an account. We also know that people who steal money and commit fraud often do it by social manipulation and can be highly skilled at this, so we should take everything there with a huge pinch of salt.

What we can say for sure is that these repeated social media attacks are damaging for the brand and a concern.

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Monzo would have had a good enough reason to do it. Plus I don’t think the tiktoker is giving us all the information tbh

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People never do! Unfortunately I think a lot of people view Monzo as a way of generating interest/likes also knowing people who have had their accounts closed seem to be banding together on facebook etc and probably all leap at any mention on social media to back it up and stoke the fire

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Having now watched the video, if the information is accurate ie. that they have permanently retained the funds and told her she isn’t getting them back, then yes I agree in that situation ‘Monzo’ must have had a good reason for ‘their’ decision.

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There seems to be more and more of these types of posts on the subreddit as well, it usually does turn out they’ve done something like transfer £500 back and forth between a Crypto account several times a day so not a huge surprise.

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Yeah exactly, like she could be 100% and saying all this shit because she got caught out doing shady stuff and now wants hate spread for Monzo

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I know I sound like an old person, but this is why I hate social media because people have so much power to spread half truths and potentially ruin businesses/people.

I don’t know all the facts of this case but unfortunately these negative videos always spread more easily and it’s worsened by the algorithms that effectively show these sentiments to anyone who may have had an issue with Monzo in the past. They then jump onboard and the cycle continues. It also doesn’t help that Monzo can’t really fight back because they aren’t allowed to say anything. So stupid.

(Yes I know social media can be used for good as well. If anyone has any positive Monzo content please feel free to share it as well :rofl:).

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It’s also a very emotive subject.

“Monzo stole my money and they could take YOURS” and then people panic, not realising they’re only being given half the story. I’m sure Monzo do freeze accounts in error, but not to the levels that these people say, because most of them are idiots/criminals/magic bean traders and knew they were playing with fire but didn’t care.

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Tempted to post a “Monzo opened my account!” video in retaliation :rofl:

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So emotive that the person in the video has done their makeup in a way that makes it look like they’ve been crying.

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I just don’t understand why the camera needs to be that close to their face and shake like they’re having a seizure.

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She will be posting a video sponsored by Chase next saying how amazing they are and that everyone should sign up :rofl:

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IANAL , but isn’t calling Monzo a scam a clear cut case of libel?

IMO Monzo should look to protect their reputation and move to take it down at the very least.

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Hopefully nobody is telling her to stand in the corner of a brick building in a forest.

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Also IANAL, but I don’t think so. The false claim actually has to cause harm I believe, and Monzo would need to prove to a certain standard. I don’t think they’d get over every obstacle to achieve that against a regular customer in that situation. Now if it was another bank saying that, on the other hand…

It’s also not likely to be worth the cost in legal fees for what they’d actually get out of it. And taking that action against an individual in the position that they’re in would likely only cause Monzo harm. They would look like a bully.

People have raw feelings and opinions, and that’s all videos like that are. It’s hard to stay poised and find the right words. And in all honesty, when that happens to you, scam is probably a very fitting descriptor and a reasonable feeling to have IMO. Because, all other things being equal, that’s what we’d call that situation if it was a criminal who put you in it, rather than a bank.

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I would agree - but there was an instance on this forum (can’t find it now) where someone had their account blocked, and someone from Monzo saw the thread, looked into the case, and it turned out Monzo had got it wrong and reversed the decision. Which suggests that there might be some kind of subjectivity over these cases, as well as human error.

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Wasn’t that part speculation? I can’t remember all the details from that thread.

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