Guides · Updated 2 November 2026 · 5 min read
Is Monzo safe? FSCS protection, the FCA fine and how Monzo fights scams
Monzo is a UK bank with FSCS protection up to £120,000. What is covered, what is not, what the FCA's £21 million fine was about and how to avoid scams.
In short: Monzo is a fully authorised UK bank, so eligible money in your Monzo account is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per person. Separately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Monzo £21 million in July 2025 for weak financial crime controls.
Who holds your money
Your account is held by Monzo Bank Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (No. 09446231). It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the FCA and the PRA, with Financial Services Register number 730427. Its registered address is Broadwalk House, 5 Appold Street, London.
As a bank, Monzo takes deposits, and these fall under the UK's deposit guarantee scheme, the FSCS.
How FSCS protection works at Monzo
The FSCS limit rose from £85,000 to £120,000 on 1 December 2025, as confirmed by the Bank of England. Monzo's own information sheet (version 2.0, dated 23 December 2025) sets out how it applies:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Limit | £120,000 per depositor per bank |
| Joint account with two holders | £120,000 each, so £240,000 combined |
| Business account | Treated as one depositor: £120,000 |
| Temporary high balances | Can be covered above £120,000 for six months after certain life events |
| Payout time | The FSCS "will typically return deposits within seven business days" |
Points worth knowing:
- All your eligible deposits at Monzo are added together. Monzo's own example: £80,000 in savings plus £50,000 in a current account would get £120,000 back, and £10,000 could be lost.
- Your current account, joint account, regular pots and Instant Access savings pots all count towards your Monzo limit.
- Temporary high balances cover events such as buying or selling your main home, a death, marriage or civil partnership, divorce, retirement, redundancy and some compensation payments. The Bank of England says this limit rose from £1 million to £1.4 million on 1 December 2025.
Our general guide Is my money safe in a neo bank? compares deposit protection across all the providers on this site.
Savings pots held with partner banks
Not every savings pot is a Monzo deposit. Monzo's help centre explains that deposits with its savings providers are protected by the FSCS separately, per person and per provider. If you also hold an account directly with that provider outside the Monzo app, it counts towards the same limit. Check which provider holds a pot before you open it, especially if you already bank with that provider.
What is not covered
Investments. Monzo's investment accounts are not deposits. Monzo says they are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000 if Monzo or its platform or custody providers fail, and that this money does not count towards the £120,000 deposit limit. That protection "does not cover losses caused by poor investment performance or standard market drops".
Scams. The FSCS pays out when a bank fails, not when you are tricked into sending money. Scams are covered by different rules, explained below.
The FCA fine: what happened
On 8 July 2025 the FCA fined Monzo £21,091,300. According to the FCA's announcement:
| Period | Finding |
|---|---|
| October 2018 to August 2020 | Customer onboarding, risk assessment and transaction monitoring were not adequately designed, implemented or maintained |
| August 2020 | The FCA required an independent review of Monzo's financial crime framework |
| August 2020 to June 2022 | Monzo repeatedly breached a requirement not to open accounts for high-risk customers, signing up over 34,000 of them |
The FCA said Monzo's controls did not keep pace with its growth: customer numbers rose from around 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022. Some customers were onboarded with implausible information, including well-known London landmarks given as their address. Monzo agreed to resolve the case and received a 30% discount; the fine would otherwise have been £30,130,475. The FCA said Monzo has since completed a financial crime change programme in line with the independent review.
What this means for you
The fine does not change FSCS protection: eligible deposits are still covered up to £120,000. In practice, expect checks: banks tightening financial crime controls may ask where money came from or pause an account during a review. Keep payslips, invoices or sale documents for larger payments, and read our guide on what to do if a neo bank freezes or closes your account.
How Monzo protects you from fraud
Monzo's security page lists, among other things:
- Call status: in the app (Settings, then Privacy & security) a banner shows whether Monzo is really on the phone with you. If it says Monzo is not talking to you, hang up.
- Trusted contacts, known locations or a secret QR code to confirm large transfers and savings withdrawals.
- Freezing your accounts and logging out of all devices remotely if your phone is lost or stolen.
- Biometric login, 3D Secure for online payments and instant payment notifications.
- Single-use virtual cards on paid plans.
Monzo says it will never ask you to send money to a "safe account" or any other account, withdraw money, accept a notification on your phone, ignore a fraud warning, share your PIN, or take out a loan or use Monzo Flex. Anyone asking for these is a scammer.
If you are scammed into sending money
Since 7 October 2024, UK payment service providers must reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) scams on Faster Payments, up to £85,000, under rules set by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The Bank of England set the same limit for CHAPS. Report a scam to Monzo through the app as soon as you notice it.
How to check for yourself
- Look up FRN 730427 on the FCA's Financial Services Register.
- Keep your eligible deposits at Monzo below £120,000 if you want them fully covered, and check which provider holds any savings pot.
- Treat investments as investments: protection covers a firm failing, not market losses.
Summary
For everyday money, Monzo offers the same FSCS protection as any UK bank. Its regulatory record is a separate matter: the 2025 fine was about financial crime controls between 2018 and 2022, not about the safety of deposits.
See Monzo's full profile, read Monzo explained, or compare it with other UK providers in our comparison table for the UK.
Sources
- Monzo: Deposit protection (FSCS)
- Monzo: FSCS information sheet
- Bank of England: PRA confirms FSCS deposit limit to be increased to £120,000 from 1 December
- Monzo: Are Savings Pots protected?
- Monzo: Are Investments Pots protected?
- FCA fines Monzo £21m for failings in financial crime controls (FCA press release, via Mondo Visione)
- CMS: FCA Final Notice: Monzo Bank Ltd
- Monzo: Security
- Monzo: Checking a call from Monzo is genuine
- PSR confirms its decision on APP scams reimbursement
Prices and features checked on 2026-11-02.
This guide is general information, not financial advice. Fees, features and availability change, so check the provider's own website before you apply. Read how we compare providers and our affiliate disclosure.
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