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Thousands of mobile phones are stolen in the UK every year.
One phone is stolen in London alone every four minutes. While we wait for Google’s Smart AI Solution Blocks Phone Thieves to launch, digital bank Monzo has announced a raft of new app-based features to stop criminals from plundering your savings, even as They manage to steal your mobile phone.
If your iPhone or Android device is unlocked when it’s stolen, thieves can access a variety of key functions, such as checking your email (giving them access to emails to reset your password), texting (useful for accounts with two-factor authentication), making purchases through shopping apps, and even accessing some banking or payment apps to plunder your savings.
Monzo wants to stop criminalsfrom transferring or withdrawing money from your account — even if they have access to an unlocked phone. The new protections, the first of their kind for mobile banking, should block thieves behind impersonation scams, as well as those who steal personal information.
First, a new “known locations” feature lets you choose a place — such as a home or workplace — where you need to be to transfer money or withdraw savings above a certain limit. Using GPS data, the digital bank will verify whether the device is in one of those locations.
If you do not do this, all transaction attempts will be blocked.
Monzo also lets you choose a trusted friend or family member (who also has a Monzo account) to be notified before they transfer or withdraw money above a chosen limit. That person can assess whether they think a payment looks safe or suspicious.
Phone theft has increased in a number of cities in the UK, with a mobile phone stolen by thieves every four minutes in the British capital.
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All of these tools are optional, so if you want to continue transferring and withdrawing money in each location, then you can choose to disable the new protections.
Speaking about the security innovations, Monzo Senior Engineer Priyesh Patel said the bank is trying to “stay ahead” of fraudsters’ tactics by rolling out new in-app tools.
“Whether it’s choosing a safety radius with known locations or having your payments checked by a trusted contact before making them, these features give customers peace of mind and provide a much-needed moment of pause in a tense situation,” he said.
British bank Monzo, one of a number of new digital banks, also unveiled a third new feature that lets you authenticate every payment by having a “secret” QR code sent to another device. You’ll need to scan the code in the Monzo app for the transaction to go through.
Monoz is not present on the high street, but has an iPhone or Android app that allows you to manage your savings, direct debits and other tasks
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That means if a thief has access to your phone, they can’t make payments without access to a second gadget, such as a laptop or tablet. Mr Patel added that there was “much more to come” following the launch of the three new security controls. Monzo has nine million customers in the UK.
According to the latest statistics from the Met Police, around 90,000 mobile phones were stolen in London in 2022, or 250 a day.
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A separate survey last month from financial insights provider Intuit Credit Karma found that around a tenth of people in the UK say they have been targeted by thieves trying to steal their phone in the past five years.
Meanwhile, fraud levels have skyrocketed across the country, with banks taking measures to prevent people losing their savings to scammers. Industry body UK Finance found that more than £1bn was stolen by criminals through unauthorised and authorised fraud last year.