‘Monese horror’ is what thousands of their customers are calling their experience with the bank over the last year. There is public outcry as people report having their account suddenly closed with little explanation, and despite offering to transfer money left in the account to an alternative account – as they are legally obliged to do – this does not allegedly happen.
Thousands report that the bank has a non-existent customer service department, as in-app enquiries and email correspondence tend to go unanswered; they also do not have a telephone team. This lead many to flock to social media to vent their frustration, but some customers screenshotted evidence that the Monese team actually ‘blocked’ them on Twitter. Many report that they were previously adequate at handling customers’ queries but that has entered a downward spiral since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those victimised range in customer longevity; some were customers for several years without issue, and some were customers for only a few days.
Customers report falling into “depression” as this was an account used for their monthly salary, leaving them almost penniless until the following month and causing significant long-term financial implications. Others were left unable to pay their rent in time because of Monese’s poor practices.
Many customers have forwarded complaints to the Financial Ombudsman and Financial Conduct Authority in an effort to have their matters resolved. One user previously created a forum for users to discuss their negative experience with Monese, but it is now offline.
One customer who spoke directly to The Evening Wiki said the following: “A bank operating in Europe should not be allowed to treat their customers in this way. This is our livelihood. I have been a customer 5 years and have never had a single issue yet my account was abruptly blocked. I forwarded them my payslips and employer information to prove sources of funds and they did not even respond.
How is this legal? I missed my mortgage one month, and had to borrow money from so many different family members to come up with the rest, as I was out of work and had 80% of my money in this single account. After that many years I was that comfortable with them to keep that much of my money in there.”
Monese have been approached for comment on several occasions and have never issued a public statement regarding this issue.