Monzo isnt accepted in many Dutch shops, so you’d be forced to take cash out… so I don’t entirely agree with point 4.
I’m not sure why this is relevant, you aren’t out of pocket by this change. Contrary to popular believe it’s completely acceptable to change one’s mind. Especially for what’s essentially a startup where decisions such as this are very important for laying the groundwork for the future of the business. You should think yourself lucky you’ve been given a choice to how you wish this to pan out.
Well, given they are registered with the FCA, I suspect it would be unwise for them to lie, it is in the handbook [1]. Plus they mentioned it in the e-mail they sent me and presumably the blog post too.
Ant
[1] COBS 2.1 Acting honestly, fairly and professionally - FCA Handbook
You should be carrying a backup card in the event it’s not accepted.
+1 this makes sense to me.
That’s the point of Monzo though - you get the best possible fee (the Mastercard rate) and get an instant notification so you know how many £’s you’ve spent, rather than just knowing you’ve spent a few of whatever currency you’ve taken out (you’d know it’s a percentage of the $100 you’ve withdrawn, but you’d need to sit and work out how that converts exactly).
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So you have three options that you have presumably modeled to show they would cover the costs - would it be too hard to have the option as an account setting - so you could choose the one that worked best for your personal circumstances
Rather than applying fees onto amount withdrawn per month, why not consider fees that are linked directly to activity? I.e 2 free cash withdrawals per month abroad and then 3% fee on any transactions thereafter.
There could still be a monetary cap on the 2 withdrawals (£400, for example) but it may deter those ‘abroad only users’ that are making frequent cash withdrawals. Some users may resort to ‘bulk withdrawals’ but this is true for option 3. I suspect this likely covers the majority of users and the ‘charge per transaction’ incurred by Monzo
You should be aware that Tom said the free limit would not be aggregated between months here, and also here.
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The modelling is probably based on all customers being on the same scheme.
Otherwise, everyone spending less than £200/month will pick Option 3, and others spending more will pick Option 1 or 2 depending on the balance of their EU and non-EU spend. Either way, it will ensure that overseas ATM fees continue to make a loss.
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Well, I think it’s within people’s capacity to understand these three options. But I am very worried that there is a perception that the fee-free value will aggregate over several months, which will not happen - Tom has said so here and here.
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Definitely option 2 - keep it simple! Can’t believe people are suggesting more complicated solutions but guess that’s because it would suit their particular needs. 1.5% is still going to be considerably cheaper than other options. I find that I get less and less cash out either in UK or abroad and probably £200 annually would suffice, so I would do well on third option but that won’t help Monzo!!!
You should use your brain and try to understand I am answering Monzo. I didn’t ask or care about your opinion.
OK - so can we see something similar to the existing limits where as they’re monthly / yearly, so for example say £300-400 per month limit, but no more than £1400-1500 per year. For me, I don’t go on holiday often, but would love to make use of this on the odd occasion it does happen.
Also posted on Facebook:
Option 4:
Up to x in a month: 0%
Over x but below y: the fee + .5%
Over y: the fee +1%
So similar to number 3, but don’t punish infrequent holiday makers. £200 probably isn’t enough in one month if you happen to be away on a (rare) foreign holiday for a couple of weeks.
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The simplicity of this will come down to user experience and how it’s implemented. More complex solutions don’t necessarily have to be hard for the user to understand. 
Wow, nice summary. Would be good if this was pinned to the top…
No your trying to think of a solution that works for you. but doesn’t solve the issue monzo are experiencing
Of course you are…even if that is the case then why word yearly be better? The vast majority of user won’t be having 12 equally spaced out holidays each year.
What about a system where you charge higher i.e. 7% for all transactions, however if you meet certain criteria e.g. for the 3 months after FX you’ve used your Monzo account regually such £1,000 per month worth of transactions then you get refunded the 7%. Using the intrest from the interim to cover the initial cost?
Hmm, no I don’t.
But I don’t think you can blame Monzo for wanting to adjust this so the unpredicted use case doesn’t bankrupt them!