Introducing Monika
Monika is the proprietary banking and payments platform from The Money Carer Foundation, and it is the treasury engine that supports the organisation’s 6000 plus accounts.
Already, over 200 law firms and local authorities use Monika to open FSCS protected bank accounts instantly, and we are delighted to now be able to open up the entire functionality of the platform to Court of Protection appointed deputies and DWP appointees, in partnership with Cashplus Bank.
Banking Platform Overview
With over £50 million under management, Monika has been designed from top to bottom to cater completely for the unique services that professional deputies, attorneys and corporate appointees provide for their vulnerable clients.
Monika enables solicitor deputies to be compliant with SRA client money rules and be adherent with OPG client account management guidance.
Key features
- An unrivalled banking and bulk payment service for deputies and attorneys
- Open FSCS protected bank accounts within hours. All funds held at Bank of England
- Access your clients funds within 7 days of us receiving your certified deputyship order/registered LPA via our new Client Funds Access Service. For UK and EU bank accounts
- Send emergency payments instantly via emailed bar code or a text message to be redeemed in any Paypoint outlet or ATM machines (without the need for a card)
- Unique ‘sweep’ facility to keep balances at agreed level. High or low
- Make individual or bulk payments via Faster Payments easily
- Issue carer cards or ‘shared’ carer cards to support/case workers
- Online and Smartphone App access. Global view of all accounts
- Realtime bank statements and reporting
- Fraud alerts system, high and low balance alerts
- Add clients to the Vulnerability Registration Service instantly
Coming Soon
- CHAPS payments
- International payments
- Current Account Switching Service access
- Bulk Payment Redirection Service (for bulk switches from existing bank)
- Request to Pay facility (communicate with utility companies electronically. No more unnecessary, lengthy, costly call centre calling)
- Open Banking to provide real-time visibility of bank and investment accounts in one place
We understand your frustrations
As an organisation that manages the finances of thousands of vulnerable people across the UK, we understand the everyday practical challenges that face deputies.
From the time spent queuing at high street banks to register documents and open accounts, to being put on hold by utility companies and the DWP – we get it. And so we have targeted our investment in Monika to address the everyday frustrations of being a deputy, attorney or appointee.
Key feature spotlight:
Our New ‘Client Funds Access Service’ (CFAS)
We are now able to take instruction from deputies and attorneys to enable us to access the funds in your clients bank accounts upon receipt of the relevant certified court orders, security bond and deputy/attorney KYC documentation. This has been made possible with our unique, high value direct debit partnership with GoCardless and the integration of the API into Monika.
The debited funds will be credited to the clients bank account opened in Monika with Cashplus Bank within 10 working days.
Our new client funds access service really is a game changer for deputies and attorneys who often have to wait many months (sometimes years) to be able to access money in a new clients bank account. This can mean care and other bills are not paid putting the client at risk and preventing the deputy or attorney from settling their own costs for many months.
The client funds access service changes this entirely for the benefit of all parties involved.
Key feature spotlight:
Sending Emergency Payments
Professional deputies will be all too familiar with need to send emergency payments to clients or carers at a moment’s notice. Monika can instantly generate emergency payments in one of two ways.
Option 1: Paypoint Cash Voucher – From your clients account, Monika can generate an instant barcode that can be emailed, sent by text or printed out to the client or carer. This barcode can then be simply taken to any of the 28,000 Paypoint outlets across the UK and exchanged for cash up to £100. The process is fully auditable.
Option 2: SMS Message for ATM Cash Withdrawal (no card needed) – From your clients account, Monika can generate two immediate text messages that are automatically sent to an authorised mobile phone number using our CashbyText facility.
The first text message includes a 4 digit code and verifies the authorised amount that can be withdrawn from the ATM The second text message provides written and video instructions and a list of the nearest ATM machines.
These payment options are helpful when cards are lost and are very popular with local authority and Solicitor partners.
NB: If this is the preferred method of sending money to clients or carers, Monika can also schedule these as automatic reoccurring events.
Key feature spotlight:
‘Named’ or ‘Shared’ Carer Cards
The Money Carer Foundation is responsible for thinking up the concept and then subsequent launch of our carer card service back in 2011. Today hundreds of law firms, local authorities, care providers and family members use our carer card service to provide funds to carers and protect clients and loved ones. We continually develop this service and an example of our innovation can be seen below:
Shared Carer Cards
As clients can be supported by a number of carers who change frequently, Money Carer has launched the Shared Carer Card Service to cater for this fact. Now, Money Carer can provide a shared carer card to a persons care team so long as they have been verified as a bona fide member of that persons circle of care.
This process is managed within Monika and is available to deputies and attorneys also to pass on the benefits of being able to implement a level of due diligence when making available client monies to individuals with caring and shopping responsibilities.
Our unique ‘sweep’ system can be used to ensure that only an authorised level of funds can be on the card with excess amounts ‘swept’ back to the main funding account thus reducing risk and demonstrating oversight to regulators and internal compliance officers.
Key feature spotlight:
Coming Soon: Digital Communication with Utility Companies
Money Carer is one of the first organisations to invest in the integration of the new Request to Pay overlay service into our banking and payments platform. We have partnered with Answerpay for this purpose.
This new technology will enable users of Monika to communicate electronically with organisations such as mobile phone or energy providers via one universal account number. This will significantly reduce administration cost and time spent mailing in third party authority documents or waiting on hold on the telephone to obtain account balances or basic information.
This new technology within Monika will enable deputies and attorneys to better protect their clients by being able to manage and pay important lifeline bills (such as telephone lines) very quickly without the danger of services being cut off due to lack of communicate in order to be able to facilitate a payment.
Key feature spotlight:
The Vulnerability Registration Service Integration
The Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS) provides deputies and attorneys with an innovative way of protecting their vulnerable clients from taking out credit contracts that they may not understand as way of a best interest decision to protect them from fraudulent applications being made using their personal details
The Money Carer Foundation was the first organisation to partner with VRS when the service was launched in 2019 and we remain committed partners in the development of this important consumer protection service.
Users of Monika can instantly register clients due to the easy access to the VRS via the integration of the VRS API into the platform. This simple option provides deputies and attorneys with an additional safeguard for their clients as the VRS service enrols more financial institutions onto the service.
