Challenger Monzo Bank has asked some of its users to change their PIN immediately after a security issue that could have compromised accounts receivable.
The company has emailed 480,000 customers (roughly a fifth of its total user base) asking them to update their mobile app and change the PIN after discovering the flaw during the week-end.
A storage issue meant that the PIN code details, which were taken every time a user made a payment to their Monzo account, were copied and saved in log files in a different part of the company's internal systems, in comparison. with the usual process.
Monzo
Approximately 110 unauthorized engineers could access these systems, but there is no indication that criminal activity has occurred.
Monzo, valued at around £ 2bn, said that roughly one in 2.6 million British customers had been affected and incorrectly stored information had now been removed. The company also released an update to its Android and iOS apps and asked users to update immediately.
Although customer information has not been disclosed or disclosed to a wide audience, the incident remains somewhat grim for Monzo and should hopefully serve as a red flag for the company to strengthen its protection in terms of security.
"We carefully checked all accounts affected by this error and confirmed that this information was not used to commit fraud," Monzo said in a blog titled "We have corrected an issue that prevented the proper storage of PIN Codes for some customers."
"Just in case, we sent a message to all those affected to inform them that they should change their identification code by going to an ATM."
Monzo recently launched its software in the United States as a result of a successful initial campaign in the United Kingdom, where users tout its ease of use and clear access to their spending records.