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Dear Which?,
I opened a bank account with Monese in January 2019. I didn’t use it very much, but had a balance of around £50.
In June 2022, I was locked out of my account. Monese gave a list of potential reasons, including suspected unauthorised use of the account, security reasons or account inactivity.
I contacted Monese and asked if I could regain access to my account. It asked for my passport to verify my identity. This didn’t pass its security checks, so I sent a copy of my driving licence, but frustratingly, that didn’t pass the checks, either.
I’ve contacted Monese and it told me that my case is still being investigated. Are you able to help at all?
Name withheld
Put to Rights
Tali Ramsey, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
We’ve heard of many cases similar to yours where Monese customers have been locked out of their accounts for weeks, months or even years – with little or no explanation.
I contacted Monese on your behalf and was told that your account was never funded and was blocked due to inactivity. It said it won't be reopening your account, and that when you submitted your documents, its systems detected suspected document forgery or tampering.
Monese told us that it doesn’t undertake credit checks or have a full picture of its customers' financial or living situations, so it may make some 'interventions' on customer accounts to better understand their circumstances.
A spokesperson said: ‘Account suspension is, and will likely remain, an important part of our suite of controls. On an ongoing basis, we work to ensure that accounts are only suspended when we consider that such action is demonstrably justifiable. In the event that an account is suspended, our aim is to resolve the matter as expeditiously as possible and this is an area where we are making significant investments.’
If your bank account has been frozen, you should contact your bank immediately to try and resolve the situation. If this doesn't bring about a satisfactory resolution, you'll need to raise a formal complaint. If you are still unhappy with your bank’s response, or it fails to respond at all, you can escalate your dispute to the Financial Ombudsman.
Need to know
- Read our guide on challenger and mobile banks
- Discover who we've named the best and worst banks.
- Understand your rights if a bank freezes your account.
- Read about how to take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Get in touch. If you've got a consumer rights problem you need put right, email us at yourstory@which.co.uk.
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source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ive-been-locked-out-of-my-monese-bank-account-for-seven-months-amVRf4x31cIN