Monzo, the leading digital bank in the UK, recently introduced three innovative security controls—Known Locations, Trusted Contacts, and Secret QR Codes—aimed at bolstering fraud prevention for its customers.
These measures are designed to add an additional layer of security for significant transactions and withdrawals, addressing the increasing issue of fraud across the UK, which has seen victims lose more than £1bn in just the past year.
Known Locations allows customers to set specific locations, such as home or work, where transactions can be authorized. If an attempt is made to conduct a transaction outside these locations, it will be automatically blocked.
Trusted Contacts enables customers to designate a trusted Monzo user who can verify transactions before they are processed.
Finally, the Secret QR Code feature provides a unique, highly secure QR code that must be scanned for transactions to proceed, adding a significant hurdle for potential fraudsters.
These controls are a continuation of Monzo’s commitment to pioneering in the FinTech sector, following the successful launch of the Call Status tool last year. This tool was introduced to combat impersonation scams and has been instrumental in identifying over 4,000 fraud attempts this year alone.
Senior Staff Engineer at Monzo, Priyesh Patel, emphasized the necessity of these features, stating, “As fraudsters become more and more sophisticated we’re continuing to invest to outpace their tactics and keep our customers’ money safe. Whether it’s choosing your safety radius with Known Locations or having a trusted contact sense-check your payments before you make them, these features offer customers peace of mind and force a much-needed moment of pause in a high-stakes situation. With best-in-class technology, security experts and a priority to prevent fraud at the source, these controls are great additions to our security toolkit, with much more to come.”
Mark Tierney, CEO of Stop Scams UK, also praised Monzo’s new safety controls, commenting, “Monzo’s new safety controls are a hugely welcome innovation that will help keep people safe against fraud. The emotional impact of fraud, alongside financial loss, underscores the importance of Monzo’s proactive approach. By leveraging technology and expertise, these controls aim to stop fraudsters in their tracks before they can inflict harm and ruin people’s lives.”
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