Monese,utterly outrageous BE WARNED!!

FruJes

Hi,
I have had an account with Monese for over 12 months, where I believed with my account limits a full KYC had been completed .
The account operated without any issues with money going in and out no problem.
I then bought a bag from a company, that upon arriving it was faulty so I sent it back.The refund came in two tranches which the lady explained the reasoning behind and I was fine with, as she had done the first part via her mobile and the bank had a limit to money sent via a mobile ,thus she sent the rest via her computer.They came with in minutes of each other.
Upon the second tranch, Monese suspended my account immediately, saying it needed to know what I used my accounts for and could I explain the latest transaction on my account.
I had no issues with them checking me and my account, so I sent then the thread from the lady and myself which explained it all and I said it was just a personal account seeing that is what it is and I sent them full screen shots of our conversations and transaction incl the return where she explains why the refund came in two tranches.

I waited and waited but got no response and no answer from Monese. Seeing this was suspended immediately on a Sat morning I assumed they would respond as quickly, first thing Monday at latest, but days went by and nothing. I wrote more emails asking, did they need further information, as would be happy to obilidge if I just knew what else they could possibly want, but no reply.
I then became a bit suspicious seeing adys went by and nothing ,so I googled Monese and there are 470 folks on Facebook saying Monese STOLE MY MONEY??? I looked on Linkedin and there were more people too, who had same issues as me. Some had just had a transfer of a couple of hundred pounds in from their husbands and gotten their account closed down but waited weeks for their money back.
Some were sueing Monese to get theirs back??
I felt really ill at ease so I contacted FCA about this on the Thursday and followed procedures and wrote an official letter of complaint on the Thu, my account had been suspended on the Sat at 9.24am and not a peep from Monese.
I thought I would also contact the Founder and the CEO of Monese via linkedin ,to let them know I was NOT happy with their service, as I had bills to pay etc and couldn't access my money and did not get a reply from them, as to whether or not ,more information was needed ,nothing.
However within 2hours of my emails to the founder and the CEO,which were very factual and no way ill mannered nor rude, I got an email from Monese saying my account was now SHUT??!!.
No final statement will be given of my final closing balance,only them writing in an email what they SAY it is. I cannot verify if this is right or wrong as they will not give it according to their emails.
By this email I would just like to warn others.DO NOT USE MONESE they are NOT A BANK but a e-money licensed provider who seems to run under other rules than a proper bank who is regulated by the FCA.
 They are utter cowboys and I opened it as I have family in Europe and in Sweden so the thought of having various currencies on it and not being charged a fee when I was abroad sounded good,but it was too good to be true.
The last week has been utterly stressful and I have been so angry I didn't take regular screen shots of my account, or print outs as I have not a clue if what they told me is the exact balance.
If they keep £x / account they close and call it admin fees...who am I to say they did or did not as I am not allowed to see my own closing balance.
ASAP I have had my funds back into my old "normal" bank account I will wait but after that I am contacting FCA again as this cannot be right and legal.
What do you think,can a bank close your account down ,for a refund that was given and then refuse to give a closing balance where all recent transactions are being seen I think not but a E-money license Provider seem to be able to??!!
Are e-money license account holders aware of the difference between a regulated FCA bank account and e-money electronic institutions as I certainly was not and am not,but not to be given a final balance upon being closed down does not sit right with me , as opens the door to allowing potential fraud by the e-money licensed provider.It is his word against mine seing he refuses to give me a closing balance!!
Stay safe and be aware that there IS a difference and what that difference is sadly, has only occured to me now and God only knows when I will see my money as email says 7-10 working days, BUT if my money is not there at the end of 10 days, please let Monese know... Really?!

Ballard

I confess that I didn’t read your entire post as it contained too much detail but KYC is not a one-time thing. There will be KYC at the on boarding stage but it is ongoing throughout your relationship with your bank. If they’re not happy with any transaction then they are compelled to take action. 

colsten

I didn't read the entire OP either but just to say, a consumer complaint to the FCA makes no sense. You can look into complaining to the FOS

TheMightySwordfish

Had issues with Monese myself. One thing was they don't except a Drivers Licence as proof of ID and asked for a Passport. I have done many KYC and all accept UK Drivers Licence.
I wouldn't recomend them in the slightist and hearing your story along with many others I'm quitte happy not to give them my custom.

FruJes

Oh I have NO issue with Monese asking me questions about my account or transaction, as my post clearly states .
It was the fact that a week went past and no one contacted me or read my answer and either asked for more info if not enough OR reopened my account. I got hold of no one, as no working phone number for customer service and no replies to any emails.
Any financial complaints with a UK regulated ,e-license provider SHOULD be sent to the FCA as that is the regulatory service in the UK,not the FOS as Monese are not part of the Ombudsman scheme,I know as I tried.

eskbanker

FruJes said:

Any financial complaints with a UK regulated ,e-license provider SHOULD be sent to the FCA as that is the regulatory service in the UK,not the FOS as Monese are not part of the Ombudsman scheme,I know as I tried.

No, the purpose of the FOS is to handle consumer complaints about FCA regulated businesses, and in that capacity it does deal with Monese cases, as can be seen by searching their decision database.

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/how-complain

BrownTrout

The refund thing sounds dodgy.

General_Grant

FruJes said:

, , , ,

I then bought a bag from a company, that upon arriving it was faulty so I sent it back.The refund came in two tranches which the lady explained the reasoning behind and I was fine with, as she had done the first part via her mobile and the bank had a limit to money sent via a mobile ,thus she sent the rest via her computer.They came with in minutes of each other.
Upon the second tranch, Monese suspended my account immediately, saying it needed to know what I used my accounts for and could I explain the latest transaction on my account.
 , ,

If there was a limit on how much could be sent using her mobile, why not send one single payment using her computer?  As the two sums arrived so close together (though hours are made up of minutes), it seems the computer was near to hand at the time.

BrownTrout

General_Grant said:

FruJes said:

, , , ,

I then bought a bag from a company, that upon arriving it was faulty so I sent it back.The refund came in two tranches which the lady explained the reasoning behind and I was fine with, as she had done the first part via her mobile and the bank had a limit to money sent via a mobile ,thus she sent the rest via her computer.They came with in minutes of each other.
Upon the second tranch, Monese suspended my account immediately, saying it needed to know what I used my accounts for and could I explain the latest transaction on my account.
 , ,

If there was a limit on how much could be sent using her mobile, why not send one single payment using her computer?  As the two sums arrived so close together (though hours are made up of minutes), it seems the computer was near to hand at the time.

yes very dodgy

FruJes

Eskbanker,that was a very helpful link you sent ,thank you!!
As when I went on their website ,Ombudsman to filem my complaint, and checked around they did not seem to deal with these issues according to the information I found,so most helpful indeed and will forward that link on.

Whether the business I bought this bag from, was dodgy or not is not in question here, nor is them doing a second KYC as already had past one I assumed when they accepted me as a customer and took my details as requested.
However I do not mind being queried, as today more than ever ,has a lot of fraudulent online crimes happening ,thus am all for Banks/e-money license company checking up on suspicious transactions to them. Seeing  I had done nothing wrong I had ZERO issue with that.It was the fact that all in 8 days went past and no response,not acknowledgment from Monese to my complaints or issues or for that matter answers to their queries they themselves had asked me and I responded to.
Some people had been waiting over 3 months many weeks and weeks just to have no response and just closed down and then kept waiting 3 weeks + or even months for the money to be put in another account?
When SO many complain and I experienced it first hand,other oepole should be made aware that these are not a BANK as we think of banks and they are regulated differently as only Money e-license provider,thus have loop holes and can for instance close you down and NOT GIVE YOU A FINAL BANK STATMENT...just write down the balance in an email and say this is your balance?!?! There could have been all sort of made up fees they can have subtracted from this, as you have no way of proving them wrong seeing your account got susended just like that.
Only when I wrote a factual email,nothing rude or nasty,just factual, of complaint to the CEO and Founder on Linkedin and got noticed, did they close my account down with in 2 hours??? Now THAT is suspicious and makes one wonder... 

MisterMotivated

If a bank/financial institution suspects you may be involved in money laundering, they are legally not allowed to tell you that's what they suspect, as it would be considered tipping off, which would probably explain why you got no response for so long.