Noticed that there are an increasing number of threads being created on the other forum about people receiving notices that Monzo are going to close their accounts in 2 months time!!
Yes. The thrust of most of them has been about whether Monzo should provide more information as to why theyâre closing the account.
In each case thereâs the usual pointless conjecture as to whether the reason is related to dodgy-dealings. In that case, thereâs no expectation that the bank will tell the customer, of course.
In all other cases, should Monzo tell you why theyâre closing it?
Unfortunately many responses are âwhy should they?â. The real question is âwhy wouldnât they?â, being a bank which launched on a transparency ticket.
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Some of the analogies being thrown about over there were making me want to pull my hair out! Sadly I think some of their staunchest supporters struggled to grasp the concept of moral responsibility (especially in the case of, as you say @Graham, a bank that set out to be transparent and âempower everyone to take control of their financesâ) vs legal obligation.
The most recent thread is from someone who has been recently made unemployed due to the pandemic and as such is on Universal Credit, and to add to that has recently experienced loss of family members - and Monzo have informed him that his account will be closed in 2 months time for a reason they wonât disclose to him (clearly not AML or fraud otherwise the account would be shutdown immediately), leaving him potentially unbanked. If Monzo want to keep the friendly bank image theyâve relied upon for so long, this is not the way to do it.
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It was all marketing, virtue-signalling and emoticons to convey a cuddly image. Many bought it. Some still do.
The reality is that they had some good ideas that have quickly been implemented by their competitors such that they no longer have a USP.
A half-cocked idea about a money marketplace and being the hub for your finances didnât stand the test of time. They appear to have little focus and are heavily loss making.
Their forum is detached from the business and has been left to be run by a small group of fanatics blind to reason.
They had a good run, enjoyed some good press coverage but theyâre nothing special anymore.
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To be honest, when is it not in the world of corporate marketing?
Iâd say their budgeting features are still the best you can find in a UK banking app. Aside from that, Starling have pretty much everything else, and many legacy banks have implemented once fintech exclusives like instant notifications.
I donât have a problem with a bank (or any other business) choosing who it wants and does not want as itâs customers, so long as the criteria is understandable by the customer and is legal.
At the point when you are onboarded, you have a contract and both are bound by certain terms.
If the bank chooses that it no longer wants to offer services to an individual, then I feel it should offer some explanation as to why it has decided to sever relations.
If you pride yourself on transparency, you canât really switch it on and off like a tap. To do so exposes the whole thing to be a lie and a gimmick.
Monzo would just do well to put itâs big boys pants on and say, âwe donât want you becauseâ.
There is also the issue that if they donât give a reason there is no way of determining whether the contract was ended lawfully or if there have been any discriminatory practices at play.
â by the way, I donât want this thread to become a Monzo forum tittle tattle thread.
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If you look on other forums and not just Monzoâs or here, you will see there seems to have been a spate of these closures across Natwest and HSBC, so i wonder if somethings updated on National Hunter etc and has resulted in a changed Risk ProfileâŠ
Also one of the guys actually said he had money deposited then immediately transferred it out, without any other activity on the account, that smacks of a risk flag right thereâŠ
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This is exactly the question to ask given the first sentence on Monzoâs About page talks of treating you fairly.
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âŠand what directly follows that!
By solving your problems, treating you fairly and being totally transparent, we believe we can make banking better.
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Starling should set up a âMonzo Shafted You Current Accountâ where you get a hot coral Starling card
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Maybe Monzo are ditching the customers that donât make much profit to make them more attractive to potential buyers
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Possibly. I have never looked at it like that. Monzo has got the highest reputation for closing accounts in my opinion. Not a good luck to have. I feel sorry for alot of people this is happening too
Every year articles come out saying Monzo is struggling and not looking good for the future and also the Bank of England have told them they need to sort things out too!
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Iâm half surprised Starlingâs crack team of insensitive twitter marketers arenât already jumping on this! Thereâs at least 15 customers up for grabs at this point!
Yes, Iâm still annoyed at how they approached the N26 closure.
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In that case, I shall await the imminent closure of my account! 
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Do tell me more, does this have anything to do with your username?
My accounts had 5p in it since October 2018. The only entries on my transaction log acter this are adverts for crowd funding or Monzo products.
Canât imagine having me as a customer is worth their while.
See if I am off-boarded soon!
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Now thatâs quite the story! I only use that username here so folks on here who visit the Monzo community know who I am. I used that username over there as the account was intended to be a throwaway, but then n26 announced the closure, so I began using it again and engaging with the fintech community more, albeit under this pseudonym. Would feel wrong to change at this point!
In any case, Following the N26 announcement, Starling put out a crass marketing tweet that felt very insensitive to me as an N26 customer at the time seeking refuge somewhere. Really put me off them.
Hereâs the tweet in question:
As clever as it was, it felt tone deaf to me. Itâs like they were carelessly trying to rip off the ingenuity of the KFC Twitter account.
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I have a standing order set up from my Starling account to all of my unused accounts for 1p every month to prevent them being marked as dormant or inactive⊠itâs worked so far, but still certainly makes me a prime target for Monzo if they do start to cull unprofitable accounts.
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Might be that some are fraud related and some arenât.
Itâs a requirement that accounts which are deemed to have fraudulent activity are blocked immediately I believe.
Whereas the others are Monzo deciding to close accounts and letting the customers have 2 monthsâ notice.
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