Thousands of Monzo bank customers were left unable to access their accounts via its mobile app this afternoon following a major technical issue.
The digital bank posted on social media platform X at 1:49pm to acknowledge issues affecting its services, before confirming in a statement at around 4:45pm that the problems had been resolved.
Customers attempting to log into the app during the afternoon received an error message stating: "We're experiencing issues. Your app will not be fully functional." Meanwhile, an automated telephone message sought to reassure account holders, stating: "Don't worry, your money is safe and your card should work as normal."
Throughout the disruption, customers were still able to make card payments, withdraw cash, freeze cards, and send or receive bank transfers using Monzo Stand-in, the bank's backup system.
Monzo said in an official statement: "For a short period today, we activated Monzo Stand-in, our fully independent backup bank while we investigated an issue affecting customers. This technical issue has been resolved, and all of our services are now back up and running. We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank customers for their patience."
Outage monitoring website DownDetector recorded a sharp rise in incident reports for Monzo starting just after 12pm, with thousands of users flagging problems accessing the platform.
Monzo growth and leadership changes
Monzo, which was founded in 2015 and is famous for its distinctive hot coral debit cards, has grown to serve more than 15 million retail customers. The company recently announced that it had become the first digital bank to reach one million business customers.
The technical disruption comes during a period of executive transition for the financial institution. Earlier in the week, Monzo revealed that its chairman, industry veteran Gary Hoffman, will step down in early September after seven years at the digital bank.
Hoffman is best known in UK banking for taking charge of Northern Rock following its government rescue during the financial crisis. Monzo board member Karen Peacock will replace him as interim chairman while the board conducts a search for a permanent successor.
Current account switching competition
Monzo has consistently performed as one of the biggest winners in customer switching. Recent figures from the Current Account Switch Service show Monzo gained 32,066 switchers during the first three months of the year, ranking third behind traditional banking giants Lloyds and Nationwide Building Society.
The bank achieved those switching numbers despite not offering cash switching incentives. Monzo typically avoids cash bonuses, relying instead on its mobile app features, budgeting tools, and organic customer growth.
By contrast, competing financial institutions continue to offer substantial monetary incentives to attract new account holders. HSBC currently offers the largest cash incentive with a £220 bonus for switchers.
NatWest provides a £200 switch bonus alongside a regular savings account paying 5.2 per cent interest. Meanwhile, the Co-Operative Bank offers a £200 switch incentive for new customers, with an additional £100 available for existing Co-Operative Bank or Coventry Building Society customers.
