Monzo banking app back up after some customers were unable to access accounts

Thousands of Monzo customers were unable to access their accounts via its app this afternoon due to a major technical issue.

The app-based bank posted on X saying that there were ‘issues affecting Monzo’ at 1:49pm. 

It later said the problems had been resolved in a statement at around 4:45pm. 

When some customers tried to log in during the afternoon, they were met with the message: ‘We’re experiencing issues. Your app will not be fully functional.’

Meanwhile an automated message via the phone said: ‘Don’t worry, your money is safe and your card should work as normal.’

During this time, customers could still make card payments, withdraw cash, freeze cards send and receive bank transfers via its back up system Monzo Stand-in. 

Monzo said in a 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.’

DownDetector shows there was a sharp rise in outage reports for Monzo from just after 12pm today, with thousands of people reporting issues.

Monzo, founded in 2015, has more than 15m retail customers and recently announced it was the first digital bank to reach one million business customers.

Earlier in the week, it was revealed its chairman is to step down after seven years at the digital bank.

Industry veteran Gary Hoffman, best known for being put in charge of Northern Rock after its government rescue during the financial crisis, will quit in early September.

He will be replaced as chairman on an interim basis by Monzo board member Karen Peacock, pending the search for a permanent replacement.

Monzo, which has its hot coral debit card, is one of the biggest winners in the current account switching stakes.

Recent figures from the Current Account Switching Service show it hoovered up 32,066 switchers in the first three months of the year, putting it in third place behind Lloyds and Nationwide Building Society.

That comes despite it not offering switching bonuses like many of its rivals.

Monzo doesn’t typically offer cash bonuses as it relies on app features, budgeting tools, and organic customer growth.

But if you are interested in knowing which banks are offering the best-paying switch offers right now, it’s HSBC, NatWest and the Co-Operative Bank. 

Co-Operative Bank has a £200 switch bribe available for new customers, with an extra £100 on the table for existing Co-Operative Bank or Coventry Building Society customers.

NatWest has upped its £200 switch bonus with a 5.2 per cent regular saving rate.

Meanwhile HSBC is offering the biggest bank switch offer with a straightforward £220 bonus.