An Update on Overdrafts

Hey all :wave:

Sorry we’ve been a bit quiet on the overdraft rollout for a while. We don’t have much to share at the moment, but it’s all still in the works :muscle:

We want to be very, very responsible about who we offer an overdraft to. So it’s really important for us to get this right.

Thanks for your patience, and stay tuned for more info coming soon :eyes:

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I do appreciate this is a responsible and so slow rollout. But it is confusing for those on the google docs list for 7 months with no word. I think it has been mentioned just an email advising they are not eligible at this time would go a long way to understand the position.

For the general user who has not requested an overdraft they would never know either way. But for those that have asked and are waiting for a response it really is not an acceptable position to just keep saying “we will get back to you”.

Even the message “we have exhausted the google doc list of all eligible users, those not contacted by now thank you for applying however you are not eligible at this time.” Would be better than effectively “please hold…”.

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Does anyone have a Monzo overdraft and DOES NOT have their salary paid in?

Yes. If I remember correctly originally they offered £1000 which I thought was much, much, too high for a person on little more than the state pension. I reduced it to £50 which I am happy with. I have not actually used it yet. I only intend to use as a buffer if I get any temporary hiccup.

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I have just asked Monzo about what is happening with respect to the overdraft rollout

The answer was the most fluffy bag of nonesense that I’ve ever had in my banking life

A criteria has to be met but what that is nobody is being told

You either receive a notification or simply nothing will arrive in your app ( you have not met the criteria)

After two months you will then be informed to why you did not meet the criteria ( two months from when, you are not notified )?

What a load of nonsense Monzo

I have used many banks in my life but never been given such a load of tosh ( party line ) as an excuse to why or why not you meet a non disclosed criteria package

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It’s still not available to all users. That criteria is probably vague because the person you’re speaking to doesn’t know what criteria they’re using in this phase. I doubt even 50% of users have access to the overdraft yet.

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Me! And me again to make ten chars!

Well then I have no idea. I can only assume I am not eligible based on existing criteria.

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I had a notification today informing me that I was eligible for an overdraft. I have never applied for one, and never shown any interest in having one with monzo or any other bank I use.

On that basis, I assume it’s completely random at this stage, if people are reporting that they are not recieving clear answers as to when they will get one.

I have a £1000 overdraft available, but haven’t activated it. I don’t have my salary paid in - other than a week when I topped it up to use overseas in January, my balance has been at zero since October. Doesn’t seem like the criteria have anything to do with account usage…

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Maybe you are a prime candidate as your account is on the edge of potentially going overdrawn

Could be - I did once get a notification warning me that my balance was ‘close to zero’ and that I should activate the overdraft to avoid rejected payments :wink:

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I signed up back in August to try out the overdraft in its test phase. And still not heard either way! :man_shrugging:t2:

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I suppose at the end of the day the bank wants and needs to generate money

I would imagine the overdraft is based on your credit rating. Monzo is a bank, after all.

Totally agree
Last I checked my score was 999/1000
So maybe that last point makes the difference

I think they might take account activity into consideration. I hardly use my account, but have a good credit rating and I’ve not been offered one :man_shrugging:t2:

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They are obviously applying some formula here that is not necessarily the same as my previous banks

Starling produced a confirmation within minutes

This is part of the issue though - there is a clear differentiation between ‘not available to all users’ versus a user simply not being eligible. It’s this lack of communication (and the apparently random rollout) which is the issue I think most people have. It’s really not that hard to let people know one of:

  • We’ve not got around to enabling the option for you, or
  • You’re not eligible right now but check back soon, or
  • Great news you’re eligible if you want one

I get that they’re never likely to reveal their specific credit scoring criteria - just as no other financial institution does (otherwise you’d be able to game the system), but I think most folk here would be happy enough with some kind of status update as above.

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That’s exactly right and furthermore why I feel quite annoyed by the responses recieved from CS

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