On the 17th of October, BBC Watchdog investigated Monzo's approach to dealing with financial crime, with a focus on how and why they freeze accounts. Tom Blomfield came on the Fintech Insider News show to have his say on the investigation and Monzo's approach to #fincrime.

Approaching the issue broadly, Tom says there has been a big rise in #bank fraud (particularly authorised push payment scams) and that banks have been under scrutiny for not doing enough to combat it. They have an obligation to identify and block financial crime, report it to the authorities, and to then exit those accounts. Tipping off is strictly prohibited, which creates a challenge for the customer-centric challenger bank. #Monzo have to balance their duty as an FS provider with treating their customers fairly. At no time are they allowed to tell the customer that they are suspected of money laundering.

It's no surprise that customers take to social media to vent their frustrations when their account has been blocked, and when Tom is messaged directly, he says he investigates each one of these complaints. "Honestly, in 95% of cases, it's an absolute slam-dunk. This is a criminal."

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🔔Full #podcast episode: https://fi.11fs.com/546

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