Monzo faces outage as thousands of users unable to make payments or transfers

UK fintech company Monzo has experienced a significant outage, leaving thousands of users unable to utilize its banking services. The digital bank acknowledged "some issues" and activated a backup service to enable users to carry out card payments and receive transfers. However, numerous customers have expressed dissatisfaction on social media, stating the service remains non-functional.

One user lamented, "I'm supposed to receive my early paycheck today, but I can't even access the option to do so. Please, fix this as I have things to do." Upon logging into the app, users are met with the message: "We're experiencing issues. We'll let you know when they're resolved." The outage tracking website Downdetector recorded a surge in Monzo reports around midday, with over 3,000 users flagging problems.

This marks Monzo's second major outage this year, following a January incident where customers couldn't access cash via the app. This is the second major outage for Monzo in 2023, following a January incident where users couldn't access cash via the app. This latest issue follows a trend of outages troubling the banking sector, with Lloyds Banking Group also reporting a technical glitch that allowed users to view other users' transactions.

A recent Treasury Committee report found that nine of the UK's largest banks and building societies experienced over 803 hours of downtime over the past two years, equivalent to 33 days. Barclays topped the list with 33 outages, but reduced the duration to 93 hours. HSBC followed with 32 incidents, but accumulated 176 hours of downtime.

Monzo's spokesperson reported a technical issue and the activation of a backup system, Monzo Stand-in, allowing customers to perform most functions, including sending bank transfers, making card payments, and ATM withdrawals.