The FCA’s recent £21 million fine to Monzo over financial crime failings is a reminder that fraud doesn’t only occur at account opening — and the pensions industry isn’t immune.
While banks focus on onboarding, pension schemes face long-term data challenges. Members may move abroad, change names, or pass away unnoticed. Without accurate, up-to-date records, schemes risk years of undetected overpayments to ineligible or deceased individuals.
Unlike banks, which often catch fraud quickly, pension schemes may only uncover issues during audits — or not at all. Poor international death data, missing contact info, and outdated verification practices are all common problems.
This is why high-quality data and proactive monitoring are critical in the pensions industry. MM’s Overseas Proof of Life provides a robust solution, combining biometric ID checks, multilingual support, and full audit trails.
The Monzo case is a reminder that weaknesses in financial crime controls don’t stay hidden forever. For pension schemes, prevention starts with better data not just at enrolment, but every year thereafter.