What was claimed
Monzo is closing down “everyone’s” accounts and keeping the money.
Our verdict
This is not true. There’s no evidence that Monzo is closing a large number of accounts and the bank says it’s operating as usual.
Monzo is not closing all customers’ accounts
11 May 2023
A Facebook post which wrongly claimed that the online bank Monzo was closing all its customers’ accounts was shared over 1,500 times before being deleted.
The post said: “Everyone thst is using monzo bank get your money out your account cos there closing every ones account down and keeping everyone’s money !!! It’s just happend to 2 of my mates and now they have no money so go get it out quickly!!!!! [sic]”
It’s not true that Monzo is closing all its bank accounts down.
A spokesperson for Monzo told Full Fact: “This is categorically untrue. We’re a regulated UK bank and we’re operating as usual.”The post was deleted late in the afternoon of Thursday 11 May, after receiving hundreds of shares earlier that day.
In addition to the two friends mentioned by the original poster, we did see at least two comments under the post from Facebook users who claimed Monzo had also recently closed their account.
But we’ve not seen any evidence to suggest that significant numbers of Monzo customers have had their accounts closed. We could find no recent news reports about account closures, and there is no pattern of complaints on Twitter or Trustpilot suggesting a wider issue.
Monzo’s terms and conditions say: “We can close your account by giving you at least two months’ notice.”
These terms also list a number of reasons they might immediately close an account, or stop you using your card or the app, including Monzo believing that you have broken the law, have given false information or have been abusive to someone who works there.
Monzo gives more details about why it might freeze, block or close bank accounts in a 2019 blog post.
False claims about companies can cause unnecessary alarm to consumers and could lead to them making financial decisions based on bad information.
If a bank, building society or credit union does go out of business, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme would pay back customers the money they’d saved with the defunct bank up to a maximum of £85,000.
Image courtesy of Toa Heftiba