Part of our mission at Monese is to make financial services as fair, transparent and safe as possible. With that in mind, we want to share how we protect you, your money and your identity.
How your money is protected
As you might know, we're authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an e-money institution. Monese accounts are e-money accounts, and theyâre provided by our long-term partner PrePay Solutions (PPS), who is authorised and regulated by the FCA and the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) to issue e-money and provide payment services. As your account is provided by PPS, theyâre also responsible for protecting your money.
At Monese, your money is protected through a process known as âsafeguardingâ.
What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding means your money is kept separate from any money owned by Monese or PPS and itâs placed into a secure account with an authorised bank, or covered through an insurance policy or similar guarantee. We never lend your money to anyone and itâs always available to you, on demand.
Thereâs also no upper limit per customer or account for safeguarding. This means that all the money within your Monese account is protected.
The safeguarding process makes sure that thereâll always be enough money to repay all customers if an e-money institution goes out of business. In the unlikely case that this happens, the process will be handled by an insolvency practitioner or administrator. It's also worth noting that because the administrator can deduct their costs from this money, you might get slightly less than your full account balance back and it may take longer.
Banks offer different protection to their customer money. For example, in the UK, this is known as Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) â a statutory scheme that repays UK customers if a bank goes out of business and canât repay customers itself. As explained above, your Monese account is protected through the safeguarding process.
FSCS protection is limited to ÂŁ85,000 per individual customer per covered firm, but thereâs no upper limit per customer or account for safeguarding. This means that all the money within your Monese account is protected.
Itâs also worth noting, for our customers in the UK, that in the unlikely case that an e-money institution goes out of business, it might take longer than an FSCS claim â which normally pays out within seven days â to return your money.
Safeguarding also applies to all pots you have with Monese, and similar safeguarding principles apply to money in EUR and RON accounts.
You can read more about how your money is safeguarded in section 2.2 of our Terms. Hereâs a page on the FCAâs website with more information for our UK customers. If youâre a UK customer, you can also head to the FCA's website to find out more about the main differences between banks and e-money firms, or for more information on safeguarding requirements, go here.
Bear in mind, though, there are times when you may not have instant access to your account. On rare occasions, we may need to block your account if it doesnât meet certain requirements. You can read more about situations like this in our terms and conditions or on our blog.
Keeping you and your details safe
Protecting you, your money and your identity is our number one priority, and it sits at the heart of everything we do here at Monese. Weâve developed technologies and processes to protect you against fraud.
To help us detect unusual activity, we use our own state-of-art systems to stay one step ahead of fraudsters and cybercriminals. And itâs not just for you â we too donât want our products to be used for financial crime. You can be confident that your personal information, account and money are safe and secure with us.
Weâre also members of the fraud intelligence agency CIFAS, helping us stay in constant communication with other banking services and provide insight into fighting cybercrime.
What can you do to keep yourself and your money safe?
There are many things you can do yourself to stay protected and keep your money safe and secure:
- Sign up to Monese with your own phone and set a strong passcode for your app.
- When youâre out and about, be sure to use Privacy Mode, pay with your phone whenever you can and if youâve lost your card, lock it in-app.
- Check your transactions regularly and never share any sensitive or private information on public forums.
- Using a virtual card is a good way to stay secure, particularly when youâre shopping online.
You can read more about how you can keep your Monese account protected here.
Online criminals and their schemes are becoming more sophisticated every day. New and complex ways to trick and rob innocent people of their money are constantly being created. Make sure youâre aware of things like how we at Monese get in touch with you, how to tell if youâre on a legitimate Monese website or social media page, plus anything else weâd never ask of you.
For even more advice on keeping yourself secure and how you can best keep an eye out for scams, head to our blog.
Weâll always work to protect you, your details and your money. If you have any questions, donât hesitate to get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or drop us a line at community@monese.com.
