Coincidentally I was in a sandwich shop which takes contactless yesterday. Unfortunately the technology want working so everyone had to use cash.
It’s unusual, but does happen from time to time.
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There are many small sandwich shops that do take cards. It is not so much the retailer type as the location. In London I found I could use a card nearly everywhere and even if one retailer did not accept them there would be a competitor in the same class of business that would. I moved away from London and found a different picture and could no longer get by just paying by card. More local retailers did not accept cards so I was forced to revert to using cash once more. Unfortunately with the planned ban on charging for card use from next year a few shops near me have removed their card terminals as they claim the legislation will prevent them recouping the extra costs involved in card acceptance 
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Odd that hasn’t happened at all here, small northern town. There’s no surcharge for cards anywhere… one or two have a minimum spend which isn’t affected by the new legislation.
People are more reserved… I’ve yet to see anyone but me use a mobile payment, and even contactless is uncommon - people prefer to have to type their pin. But the infrastructure is in place.
Of course card machine failure happens… Had it happen to a local one the other week and I felt sorry for them being half empty on a saturday afternoon when they’re normally talking about waiting times. That’s one for the payment processors to sort out (machines need to be very reliable, and repair turnaround needs to be measured in hours).
Good, if they feel card acceptance on fair terms isn’t worth it for their business, I’m happy for them. I’ve always said companies should just go cash-only if they really feel accepting cards isn’t worth it. I give them a few months to get card terminals again, possibly on a better deal since they have more incentive to shop around.
In truth, these card fees are almost always higher than the actual cost of accepting cards, and were seen as a nice little moneymaker. Also, remember, accepting cash isn’t actually free for businesses either… business bank accounts charge for cash pay in, higher cash on hand is an insurance risk, etc.
I will not do business with someone surcharging, but I will do business with someone cash-only (if I have cash on me, which is rare, but it’s more business than they’d get if they had a card surcharge) or who only takes certain card networks (but not who discriminates between cards from the same network and card type, since that’s prohibited).
In truth, as long as a business is paying their taxes, the real cost of card acceptance on a good merchant account is similar to or lower than cash, and it has been proven to significantly increase sales. Let them take their toys and go home if not being allowed to charge extra fees bothers them so much. I bet they’d charge you an electricity fee, too, if they thought they could get away with it. Or a rent recovery fee. These are costs of doing business, like taking cards, or cash.
If you withdraw £3000 a month that would cost Monzo far more than £10 even inside Europe (the cheapest overseas option for them)
HSBC would also definitely charge me two different fees to withdraw cash and I think that’s not even factoring them shafting me on the rates. So for me the Monzo proposition as it is even with fees is fine
Do you mean you walk out if they don’t take Amex? That’s not always practical, but my Amex card has an associated Visa for those situations, so I still get half the air miles.
Great point about electricity charges. I’ve always wondered how restaurants get away with charging service. Surely if you surcharge for cooking and serving, the menu should be at supermarket prices?
No, I mean I walk out if they surcharge Amex. For example, Typo in Westfield Stratford. Which makes me sad since their stuff is so cool but I won’t support that behaviour.
If they just don’t accept Amex, I pull out the Monzo card.
Similarly, if they surcharge cards, I walk out. But If they don’t accept cards, I pull out cash if I have some. But I usually don’t so leave by necessity.
Exactly on the service charges. A mandatory service charge they won’t remove makes me walk out. If I have no choice, e.g. dining with friends who want that place, I won’t tip. Their loss. I usually tip more than the service charge. If it’s an optional services charge I’ll only pay it if the service is exceptional. Whereas I would usually tip at least that much for mediocre service…
P.S. I will make exceptions for amazing service. I’m not one for punishing innocent wait staff! But if I do, it’s always a cash tip. If the owner will rip off customers, why wouldn’t they rip off their staff where it’s much less visible?
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One thing I can never understand is a Service Charge in a restaurant. In any other sane industry service is part of the price. You don’t go to a pub and buy a beer and find an extra 15% in your bill to pay for them pouring it in to a glass, or pay an 10% in your local swimming pool for them providing the water. Restaurants should charge a price including all their costs and their staff should be paid a decent wage so employers don’t rely on customers augmenting the low wage and thereby get out of having to pay more
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Agreed 100%. Making it worse, the service charge isn’t a tip. Some restaurants treat it as one, but others just directly pocket it. It may seem rude, but always ask. I’ve never met a waiter who didn’t appreciate me asking.
It isn’t just service charges. A few places, including one major chain I can think of, pocket some or all of the gratuity added to a card charge. Always ask before you pay it.
Tipping is a really negative thing that needs to end. I won’t just stop tipping since that’s punishing innocent people rather than the owners. But I at least will make sure my tips go to them!
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I feel exactly the same. My main reason for opening a Monzo account was to avoid the crippling cost of withdrawing cash in Europe. £200 is neither here nor there if you’re visiting for more than a couple of days, and 3% seems excessive, or barely any different to using my main debit/credit cards - which brings me to the other issue, why are you forcing a current account on me? I already have one! I’m afraid I’ll be looking for an alternative pre-loaded card.
It’s a good question. When I got my prepaid card, it did everything I wanted it to do. I knew that Monzo were going to be a bank and offer current accounts, but I hadn’t noticed that the prepaid account would be cancelled. Having said that I am happily using my current account as if it were a prepaid account with the added benefits of transferring money out and having direct debits.
As for the change in foreign ATM fees, Monzo have simply decided that they are too expensive and so have reduced their exposure. I too wish they hadn’t, but it’s their game, their rules I’m afraid.
Good luck with your search for an equivalent prepaid card, I hope you find one which suits your needs. I believe that Starling offer good benefits for travelers, but not on a prepaid card, it’s another current account.
Out of curiosity, I was wondering how international ATM charges work?
Monzo obviously gets charged, hence the previous discussion on how to pass this on fairly.
But I believe I am correct in that Monzo also gets changed for use in the UK., I’m guessing these charges are cheaper than international?
So why are international charges more expensive? Does the international ATM operator charge Mastercard, who add a percentage fee, bearing in mind that Mastercard is already charging a currency conversion fee? Sounds like they want their cake and to eat it!!!
This is correct, I don’t know the exact figure but the BBC have bandied around 25p currently charged to the bank if they are a member of LINK: Free ATMs could be cut back in cash machine shake-up - BBC News (We aren’t so have Mastercard interchange fees instead - which I don’t know I’m afraid)
Because the operator can charge more, so they do.
Mastercard don’t apply a currency conversion fee, but they do charge an interchange fee which essentially just a cost per transaction for using the card. The ATM operator passes their charges onto Mastercard, who pass them onto us. These can vary significantly, sometimes being a percentage other times being a fixed charge + a percentage, that’s why it is very difficult for us to charge exactly what it costs us because these vary so wildly. We’ve found (as mentioned in our blog post) that internationally these fees cost around 1% in Europe and 2% in the rest of the world.
Here’s the post: Monzo Help - Understanding fees for using your card
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I made a new thread but didn’t get an answer, are these new fees a cash fee (e.g. applicable to manual cash and purchase with cashback) or are they truly only for ATMs? If so, could that be an option when travelling at least in some countries?
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They are for ATMs 
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I thought that was generally only available in your card’s home country… Definitely I wasn’t able to get cash back from supermarkets in UK with my European Visa Classic when I first moved here 10 years ago…
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I’m not an avid user of the service so I don’t know thus asking if that could be an option. I know it certainly wouldn’t be an option in the US as I can’t think of a single shop that offers cashback over Visa/Mastercard. They only offer it over the US regional debit networks.
Certainly though, manual cash could be an option. I know that works overseas. I’ve never used it so I don’t know if banks charge a fee for it?
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the cashback schemes I saw in Europe were only for domestic card holders too.
I understand they are also available in other countries like Australia too.
The service is offered by both banks and merchants in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Poland, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.
If you know of any other countries running a similar cashback (or cash out) scheme do let us know.
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Thanks! Still leaves the option of manual cash open if you can find a bank to do it with no fee, and if Monzo would approve it.
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