Monzo runs a feature called “Double Payday”. Each month, they randomly double 10 customers’ eligible Bacs salary payments. It’s marketed as simple: get your salary paid in, and you might get lucky.
What they don’t highlight is how it works in practice.
The system automatically identifies the first Bacs payment notification it receives in a pay cycle. Once that payment is identified, no other payment in that cycle can qualify.
If you receive disability benefits like PIP or DLA, those payments are often scheduled to arrive before salary. That means the system can treat your disability benefit as your “payday” – and your actual salary is then excluded entirely.
Monzo has confirmed this is how the feature is designed.
Let that sink in.
Because I receive PIP, and because the payment file reaches Monzo before my salary file, my salary has not been considered for Double Payday. Not because it doesn’t meet the criteria. Not because I opted out. But because a disability benefit arrived first.
Their position is that the rule is “neutral” and timing-based.
In reality, the outcome is predictable. Disabled customers are more likely to receive scheduled benefits alongside salary. A system that automatically prioritises the first incoming Bacs file will disproportionately affect them.
This raises serious concerns under the Equality Act 2010. The legal definition of indirect discrimination is set out in Section 19 of the Equality Act 2010. You can read the full wording here: Section 19 of the Equality Act 2010 – Indirect discrimination. In short, a provision, criterion or practice can be unlawful if it is applied to everyone but puts people who share a protected characteristic – including disability – at a particular disadvantage, and cannot be justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
I’ve received the final letter from Monzo which told me their “investigation didnʼt find evidence” to support my complaint.
In its final response letter dated 16 February 2026, Monzo confirmed the following:
“You are correct that the system is identifying your PIP payment first. This is because the notification for your PIP payment reaches us before the notification for your main salary. Once the feature has been offered for that first payment, it cannot be offered again for another payment in the same period. This is why your salary is not eligible.”
Monzo also stated:
“It is based on a neutral, automated rule: the timing of when we receive the payment file from the Bacs network. This rule is applied in the same way for all customers.”
And concluded:
“The feature is working as it was designed.”
So to be clear, this is not a system error. It is not a misunderstanding. Monzo has confirmed that the feature is operating exactly as intended.
The bank’s position is that because the rule is automated and timing-based, it is neutral. My concern is that neutrality in wording does not prevent a system from having disproportionate effects in practice – particularly where disability benefits are scheduled differently from salary payments.
I have now referred the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
But here’s the part that really shouldn’t have happened:
I have now had to contact the Department for Work and Pensions and switch my PIP payments to a different bank account. Not because I want to change banks. Not because of fraud. Not because of security concerns.
But because the design of a promotional feature effectively penalised me for receiving a disability benefit.
No one should have to rearrange how their disability support is paid simply to avoid being excluded from a bank promotion.
This isn’t about winning a draw. It’s about equal treatment. If a system predictably disadvantages disabled customers, calling it “automated” doesn’t solve the problem.
I’ll now wait for the Ombudsman’s review.
The official terms and conditions are publicly available on Monzo’s website. You can read them here: Monzo Double Payday terms and conditions. I would encourage anyone reading this to review them in full, particularly the sections explaining how eligibility is determined and how the first Bacs payment in a cycle is identified.
The wording makes clear that PIP and DLA payments are eligible for Double Payday. However, because the feature automatically selects the first Bacs payment notification it receives in a cycle, a disability benefit can qualify in place of salary. Once that happens, no other payment in that cycle can be considered. In practice, this means a disabled customer’s benefit may be entered into the draw instead of their salary, effectively preventing their salary from qualifying at all.
I also note that as of 3 February, the terms reference Adult Disability Payment (ADP) and Child Disability Payment (CDP) in Scotland. If the same “first Bacs notification” logic applies, this risks creating the same outcome for disabled customers in Scotland who receive those payments.
If you are a disabled customer – including Deaf customers – who receive PIP, DLA, ADP or CDP and your salary is being blocked from Double Payday because a benefit payment arrives first, I would encourage you to raise this directly with Monzo. Individual complaints matter. Banks are required to consider how their policies affect disabled customers, and the more people who flag the issue, the harder it is to dismiss as a one-off case.
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