Hi all, not sure if this has been covered before but…
Went to the Petrol Station the other day to fill up with fuel, being almost empty…
Got out of the car at the 24 hour Asda Petrol Station to see a hand written ‘Monzo Cards Not Accepted’ sticker on all the pumps. Tried anyway and sure enough, they don’t accept Monzo.
Any ideas why? Didn’t have any other form of payment so had to limp back home on fumes to get my Natwest debit!
This happened a few months ago as well. Some sort of issue that was never fully disclosed but it was resolved. Wonder if it’s cropped back up again. @Rika heard anything?
I used my card last week at a 24hr unmanned Asda station and everything worked fine. I was initially charged £1 and the remainder was marked as pending, and a few days later I was charged the full amount without any issues.
It was at the ASDA Petrol Station in Fleetwood (https://storelocator.asda.com/store/fleetwood) around 3/4 days ago, unfortunately I don’t have a photo to hand but I’ll get one next time I’m passing, if the signs are still up.
Could be the pre-auth. You have to have £100 available (if i remember correctly) but then it only takes £1 and updates as expected a few days later. There was a change back along by the card companies.
I saw this at an Asda pump before when I had £50, but then it was fine when I next went and had a balance in excess of £100
phildawson
(Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)
16
@Rika could you confirm if this true. I had thought if your balance was below £100 that a partial authorisation response is sent back by Monzo so that if you had £50 you can take up to £50 fuel?
Following this pre-authorisation message, your card’s issuing bank will either accept, decline, or propose a lower authorised amount depending on the funds available in your account at the time the message is received.
What happens if I don’t have £100 in my account?
If your account balance is below £100, for example £50, your bank may pass back a message to the pump that it can dispense up to that amount of fuel. The pump will automatically cut out once you have reached the approved amount (or before if you choose to dispense less). This is called ‘partial authorisation’ and ensures you can get the fuel you need.
If you chose to purchase less fuel than has been approved through the ‘partial authorisation’ – e.g. £25 rather than the full £50 – then this lower amount will be the value communicated to your bank once you finish filling up.
It started to roll out but was then rolled back pretty quickly (from memory).
4 Likes
phildawson
(Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)
18
That was my recollection too. I think it was initially due to having to have £99 in your bank and then it was due to not correcting to the actual amount immediately after filling up and putting money on hold potentially for a few days each time you filled up.
I know they then said we’ll do partial auth to fix the first issue, so if you have £50 you can take £50. I think there was meant to be progress on making sure pending was updated and collected within an hour.
My local-ish Asda unmanned pumps definitely only auths with £1. I’ve had a nightmare twice where Starling has saved the day at those pumps, so it was between Monzo vs Asda and not anything to do with Mastercard.
Hey! I had a similar issue with Amex at my ASDA. There was this con thing going on at the time so they blocked AMEX cards. Luckily I had my Monzo card so just used that.
Best tip is just to carry a few cards with you. I have my Monzo (MasterCard) , Amex and my First Direct (VISA). Sometimes the issue isn’t just with the bank but also with the visa or MasterCard network so this keeps me covered.
It’s very hit and miss for me. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesnt.
Last time I tried was 29th June and it failed. £1 authorisation was taken, but then didnt go any further and cancelled. I got the £1 back shortly after.
Before anyone asks - there was enough money to cover even the maximum amount of fuel allowed.
Tried a different card (visa) worked fine.
It’s not a problem really for me; as I can just use a different card. But for people using only Monzo this could become quite a pain in the backside.