Monzo Fined £21M for Weak Anti-Financial Crime Controls, Says FCA

Britain’s financial regulator has fined digital bank Monzo £21 million ($28.57 million) for failing to adequately protect against financial crime — including accepting customers who listed addresses like Buckingham Palace.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Tuesday that as Monzo expanded quickly, it did not maintain strong enough safeguards to mitigate the risk of financial crime. The £21.1 million penalty was imposed for “inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls” between October 2018 and August 2020.

Monzo CEO TS Anil stated that the issues have since been resolved, with significant improvements made to its controls. He added that Monzo is fully committed to combating financial crime.

Founded in 2015, Monzo is one of several UK fintech apps that have emerged over the past decade. Following a 2020 review, the FCA restricted Monzo from opening accounts for high-risk customers. However, the FCA noted that from August 2020 to June 2022, Monzo repeatedly breached this restriction by opening accounts for over 34,000 high-risk customers.

According to FCA documents, some customers applied for Monzo accounts using addresses such as Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, and even Monzo’s own office.

“Monzo accepted customers based on minimal, and sometimes clearly implausible, information — such as using famous London landmarks as their address,” said Therese Chambers, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight. “This shows just how weak Monzo’s financial crime controls were.”

Other UK fintechs have also come under scrutiny for weak anti-financial crime measures. In 2024, Starling Bank was fined £29 million after the FCA found its anti-money laundering and sanctions screening left the financial system “wide open to criminals.”

Despite these challenges, Monzo reported a strong rise in annual profit, posting £60.5 million in pretax profit for the year ending March 31, 2025 — up from £13.9 million the previous year. Anil noted that it was still too early to discuss an IPO.