Monzo Bank Ltd · DRN-6158623

The complaint Mr C complains Monzo Bank Ltd reported a missed payment on his credit file when his overdraft balance was above the agreed limit. What happened Mr C opened a Monzo account on 26 February 2024 and took out an overdraft limit of £500 on 29 February 2024. Mr C complained to Monzo on 29 December 2025 after he noted a missed payment had been recorded on his credit file. Monzo responded to the complaint on 31 December 2025 and explained the missed payment was recorded because Mr C had been in an unarranged overdraft for more than 30 days. It didn’t uphold the complaint. Mr C remained unhappy and asked our service to investigate. Our Investigator issued a view explaining why he felt the complaint shouldn’t be upheld. Mr C didn’t agree with our Investigator’s findings. In summary, he said: • He disputes the classification of “missed payment” because it doesn’t reflect either the factual position of the account or the legal meaning of a missed payment. Every party involved appears to have failed to properly assess whether the data reported meets the definition of a missed payment. The ordinary and legal definition of a missed payment requires there to be a fixed or determinable repayment amount and a specified due date by which that amount must be paid. • Monzo did not set a repayment amount or a repayment date. This is evidenced by the SMS messages, Monzo’s own policies and terms and conditions and the absence of any formal demand or repayment notice. So, it is legally and logically impossible for a payment to have been “missed”. • It should be reported as an unauthorized overdraft or exceeding the agreed limit and reporting this status as a missed payment materially misrepresents the account and exaggerates the credit risk. • Reliance on internal policy is misplaced. Policy does not override statutory obligations. Under Article 5(1)(d) UK GDPR, personal data must be accurate and must not be misleading. Misclassification of credit data is a breach of this principle. Once the inaccuracy was raised, Article 16 UK GDPR required rectification. This hasn’t occurred. • There was no adequate communication. No emails were sent regarding repayment or resolution of the overdraft, despite his contact details being correct and verifiable. Any conclusion to the contrary is factually incorrect. • He received repeated scripted or AI responses, was required to restate the same questions multiple times, and had material points ignored. The issue hasn’t been properly reviewed, and this raises concerns about procedural fairness and impartiality with a clear bias towards Monzo.

-- 1 of 3 --

• The clear lack of misunderstanding in regard to statutory regulation is concerning and the matter of the fact is that this, by law, needs a change of classification. These are all indisputable facts and were stated in the original complaint which shows that anything regarding statutory laws and regulations is ignored. As Mr C didn’t agree, the complaint has been passed to me to decide. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. It is my role to consider what’s fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of this case. To do this, I have thought about the relevant rules and regulations, as well as relevant industry practices. In order to direct Monzo to remove the adverse information from Mr C’s credit file, I’d need to be satisfied that it did something wrong and/or the information doesn’t fairly reflect what happened with the account. I’m satisfied both parties have had the opportunity to make representations and I’d like to provide assurance I have reviewed the information impartially. I’m satisfied from the evidence I’ve seen Mr C’s account remained over his agreed overdraft limit for more than 30 days. On 31 October 2025 Monzo sent Mr C an SMS asking him to add funds to his account otherwise the interest charged would take him above the agreed overdraft limit. No funds were added prior to 1 November 2025, so his balance exceeded the limit. I’ve reviewed Monzo’s collection history and I can see that he was sent numerous payment requests throughout November and December 2025. Monzo sent eight SMS notifications which requested that he add money to his account otherwise his credit score could be impacted. There was no payment and further overdraft interest was added on 1 December 2025 increasing his balance and the amount by which he had exceeded his agreed limit. Monzo sent notice of arrears to Mr C on 1 December 2025. This explained he had been over his overdraft limit for 30 days and Monzo would soon have to tell its credit reference agency that he was late paying back money owed. Further notifications were sent throughout December 2025. Having reviewed the collections activity, I’m satisfied Monzo had reasonably tried to contact Mr C about his unauthorised overdraft, and it was clear the amount to bring it within his agreed limit had fallen due and had not been repaid promptly. Mr C has said there was no payment due date so he could not have missed a payment. I’m satisfied from the circumstances he needed to bring the account balance within the agreed limit as soon as he exceeded it. Therefore, he was due to make a payment from 1 November 2025 and the initial amount he needed to pay was £13.00 before it increased on 1 December 2025 to £26.72. He did not bring the overdraft balance within the agreed limit until 29 December 2025. So, no payment was made in November 2025. When more than 30 days had passed, Monzo recorded a missed payment. I’m satisfied this is an accurate reflection of what happened with the account. Further to this, I’ve also thought about the terms of the account. I can see from the information provided to Mr C about his overdraft agreement that Monzo explained: “If you go over your overdraft limit, we’ll expect you to add enough money to get back inside your limit as soon as possible.” In its terms and conditions Monzo explained:

-- 2 of 3 --

“Any money you owe as a result of an unarranged overdraft is due immediately.” As mentioned, Mr C feels strongly there wasn’t a missed payment because there was no due date. However, Mr C was in an unarranged overdraft. Because it was unarranged, Mr C was asked to add the funds to his account to ensure his balance was brought back within the agreed limit. I’m satisfied the payment was due as soon as he went into his unarranged overdraft and this is also reflected in the terms and conditions of the agreement. Therefore, I’m satisfied it was reasonable for Monzo to report that Mr C missed a payment in November 2025. As mentioned, I’ve thought about the relevant rules and regulations, and I’ve considered those mentioned by Mr C in response to the view. I’m also mindful it is industry practice to report a missed payment where an unauthorised overdraft balance is not brought within the agreed limit within 30 days. In the circumstances of this case and for the reasons explained, I’m satisfied the missed payment fairly and accurately reflects what happened. So, there isn’t any requirement for Monzo to rectify the information it provided to its credit reference agency. Mr C is also unhappy with the chat responses he received from Monzo. Initially, he received an AI response before it was escalated. I’ve reviewed the chat log, and I think Monzo reasonably sought to assist Mr C and answered his query about the missed payment. I understand he didn’t agree with the response he received but I don’t think Monzo did anything wrong here. I understand Mr C feels his complaint hasn’t been properly answered and I want to assure Mr C I’ve carefully considered everything he has provided. Overall, I’m not upholding this complaint. I appreciate Mr C will be considerably disappointed by my decision. As explained my role is to consider what’s fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. Mr C went into an unarranged overdraft, he needed to bring the balance within his agreed limit, he was sent several notifications, it doesn’t seem he contacted the business at the time and when more than 30 days had passed Monzo recorded a missed payment. In light of the evidence, I’m satisfied the missed payment fairly and accurately represents what happened and so I won’t be asking Monzo to do anything to put things right here. My final decision For the reasons outlined above, I’m not upholding this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr C to accept or reject my decision before 27 April 2026. Laura Dean Ombudsman

-- 3 of 3 --