In July 2025, Monzo was fined over £21 million by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for serious and prolonged failings in its AML controls between 2018 and 2020. The investigation uncovered critical lapses in customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, risk assessment, and governance. During this period, Monzo grew rapidly from 600,000 to over 5 million customers, yet its compliance controls failed to keep pace, allowing criminals to exploit the platform. Some of the lapses were so severe that customers were able to open accounts with bogus addresses including 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.
This report breaks down the FCA’s findings, the specific AML gaps identified, and the missteps that led to severe enforcement action.
Learn:
- Why Monzo’s onboarding and monitoring controls failed
- How failures in leadership and internal culture contributed to the enforcement action
- The consequences of prioritising growth over compliance
- How Monzo breached FCA requirements on onboarding high-risk customers
- How the bank remediated these failings and the critical lessons for other financial institutions.
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