Revolut, Monzo and Wise: The UK fintechs slapped with the most complaints
Fintechs may be giving banks a run for their money on innovation, but fresh data reveals they’re also competing on the unenviable field of complaints.
New figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) showed Monzo and Revolut topped the fintech industry for the most complaints.
Both firms’ customer bases swelled to over 10m users in the last year – but, as the numbers indicate, growth is not without grievances.
Here are the top five UK fintechs with complaints lodged against them in the second half of 2024.
Revolut
Unsurprisingly, it was one of the industry’s behemoths that took the complaints crown and it was Revolut that sat on the throne.
Revolut received 3,397 complaints in the final six months of 2024. All complaints were registered under the banking category.
This edged up from the 3,193 complaints received in the first half of the year.
The firm topped £1bn in pre-tax profit for the first time in 2024 after revenue surged 72 per cent to £3.1bn.
The fintech’s global reach has expanded to 52.5m , surpassing Europe’s biggest lender HSBC.
Monzo
Just an inch away from an undesired victory was Monzo.
The London-based neobank received 3,396 complaints, with nearly all coming under banking.
Mortgages and home finance, general insurance and investments each recorded a singular complaint.
The figure rose from 2,843 in the first half of 2024.
The increased grievances put Monzo and Revolut amid the FTSE 100 banking giants on complaints lodged.
Wise
Consumer and business transfer firm Wise trailed behind Revolut and Monzo at 945 – down from 1,220 in the beginning of 2024.
The fintech specialises in international money transfers and multi-currency accounts.
The firm is one of many industry names hotly anticipated to IPO in the near future and was reported by The Times to be eyeing a FTSE 100 listing.
Wise said it was “extensively consulting with shareholders on the optimal listing arrangements.”
Starling
Industry pioneer Starling narrowly missed the top three with 731 complaints received.
This was up from 572 in the beginning of the year.
The company received its banking license from the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority in 2016,
As of 2024, the fintech said it had approximately 4.2m customer accounts across both retail and business accounts.
Zopa
Zopa doubled its profit and office footprint in 2024, but managed to keep complaints below its peers.
The Canary Wharf-based business received 419 grievances in the second half, up from 369.
Following its full-year results in April, Zopa Bank revealed to Morning Wire it was set to smash its “2025 Fintech Pledge” next month which targeted “25m positive actions” to improve financial resilience.
The neobank launched the pledge with fintech peer ClearScore in 2022 and sought to help Brits battle the cost of living crisis. This involved helping consumers with actions such as lowering monthly bills, building credit and moving savings to high interest-yielding accounts.