Monzo Bank Ltd · DRN-5826129

The complaint Miss W has complained Monzo Bank Ltd didn’t give her notice of their intention to close her bank account. This had a major impact on her family, as benefits were unable to be received and her son was unable to use his under-16 account. What happened Monzo closed Miss W’s bank account on 9 June 2025. This came as a surprise to her, and she was unable to find out from them why this had happened. Miss W was also concerned about the impact on her son. He used an under-16 account linked to her Monzo account and was unable to pay for his transportation home from school causing him severe distress and long-term loss of confidence. Monzo felt they’d followed the terms and conditions of Miss W’s account. Still unhappy, Miss W brought her complaint to the ombudsman service. Our investigator reviewed the evidence which confirmed Monzo had provided two months’ notice to Miss W that they’d be closing her account on 9 June. He wasn’t going to ask them to do anything further. Miss W has asked an ombudsman to consider her complaint. She was particularly concerned about: • Lack of proper notice that her account was to be closed; • The serious and distressing impact on her son who has long-term health issues; • Failure in duty of care and fair customer treatment; and • Monzo’s inadequate justifications after the account was closed. She considered that compensation should be payable for the distress she, and her family, had suffered. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. Having done so, I’ve reached the same outcome as our investigator. I’ll explain why. It is clear there is a bit of history to Miss W’s relationship with Monzo. To assist me in my decision I’ve had access to Miss W’s chat history within the Monzo app. In early 2025, Miss W disputed a single retail transaction for £26.99. After initially refunding Miss W in line with the existing regulations, Monzo confirmed they felt no refund was due to Miss W.

-- 1 of 3 --

Within two months, Monzo blocked Miss W’s use of her account as she complained about a number of other disputed transactions. On 8 April 2025 at 14:39 Miss W wrote to ask “Do you think I can get my money back which has been taken”. The same day at 14:57, Monzo wrote to Miss W to confirm they couldn’t treat those transactions as fraudulent and wouldn’t be refunding her. The next paragraph says: “As per our terms and conditions, we reserve the right to close an account either instantly or with 62 days’ notice, and we’ve taken the decision to close yours on Monday 9 June 2025.” The message goes on to confirm that linked accounts – including under-16 accounts – will also be closed at the same time and no further transactions will be possible. This was a conversation chain Miss W had initiated, so I find it difficult to believe she didn’t see that Monzo wouldn’t agree to refunding her and had made the decision to close her account. Banks are able to close customers’ accounts as long as they provide appropriate notice (generally two months). In this case I can see Monzo did provide notice as required. They are not required to provide details of their decision to their customer. This would explain why – despite Miss W asking them – Monzo wouldn’t agree to providing any further information. I understand this must be extremely frustrating, but this is standard and meets the required standards set by regulators and other bodies within the banking industry. That said, I can see that within a period of six months before she was told the account would be closed, Miss W had raised at least three claims for fraudulent transactions which Monzo had rejected. I think it’s more than likely they decided they had no further appetite for the risk Miss W presented to the bank. I am not sure why Miss W didn’t take note of Monzo’s closure decision when they communicated this to her on 8 April 2025. However, when I look at whether Monzo did anything wrong, I have to confirm they did not. It’s worth saying upfront that I can see this has caused distress and disruption to Miss W and her family. Her son has long-term health issues and when the account was closed – suddenly as Miss W saw it – his routine was severely disrupted which has had emotional consequences. I can see why she’s been so agitated about what happened. There was at least one phone call where Miss W had claimed Monzo were rude and unhelpful. This isn’t the case and if anything, I can see that it’s Miss W who lost her temper during the call. As I’ve already stated I don‘t believe Monzo did anything wrong, so I won’t be asking them to provide her with any compensation. My final decision For the reasons given, my final decision is not to uphold Miss W’s complaint against Monzo Bank Ltd. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Miss W to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. Sandra Quinn

-- 2 of 3 --

Ombudsman

-- 3 of 3 --