ATM Fees Abroad: Landing Today

Hi @Peter_R @Annick

Thanks so much for flagging this, really sorry for the confusion, we’re looking into it now and I’ll post an update shortly!

To confirm in the meantime, on the prepaid card you can now use the £200 limit in multiple withdrawals, as is detailed in yesterday’s blog post.

Back in a sec with an update!

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Hi both, the copy’s been changed to reflect the way the limit will actually be implemented (as detailed in yesterday’s blog announcement).

Thank you so much for flagging, we’re sorry for the confusion!

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You’ll be able to see how much of your £200 free allowance remains on the limits screen in your app (to find it: tap the Account tab > then the settings cog > then go into the Spending limits section > you should see the relevant amount under "Free useage abroad over 30 days) :slightly_smiling_face:

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The 30-day rolling limit was chosen because it is more fair than per calendar month.

You will always have your allowance reset 30 days following a withdrawal, rather than having to wait between 1 and 30 days depending on when you happen to be on holiday. You won’t end up getting charged more than someone else just because your holiday was at the start of the month.

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Screenshot_20180105_234307

You can see this here, but if I hadn’t read this post I would not have thought that it existed - if it doesn’t already it would be good if it alerted you to look here when landing in a new country.

You say ‘fair’ but Monzo so far has been praised for simplicity and this is porobaly the most complicated limit amongst competitors.

It does not affect me at all as I use much better alternatives and to be honest I can’t remember the last time I actually had to draw up cash abroad (fine I had to in China last year). However it is just mind boggling why would you chose such a complex model. Feels more of a legacy banking move than out of genuine consideration about fairness. Lol 3%.

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Why was the 30 day rolling not part of or a separate community vote alongside the charges vote?

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I guess Monzo ultimately needed to implement a system which meets their goals as well, having taken a lot of user (voter) views into consideration.

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I think the idea is you will be able to see when the 30 day limit for each withdrawel is up, in app. So if I withdraw £150 worth of cash abroad on the 1st of February, that will drop-off my allowance on the 1st of March and you’ll be able to see that, in app.

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Do (foreign) ATM withdrawals I’ve paid the 3% on count towards my £200 rolling allowance? That is, if I withdraw £100 in Euros every eleven days, do I pay 3% on my fourth withdrawal?

1st withdrawal: £200 limit, £100 taken
2nd withdrawal: £100 limit, £100 taken
3rd withdrawal: £0 limit, £100 taken. £3 paid in charges
4th withdrawal: I’ve withdrawn only £100 of charge-free cash over the past 30 days. However, I have withdrawn £200 of foreign cash in total. Can I withdraw more money free?

Continuing with this hypothetical trend, if I do get charged for this fourth withdrawal (fee-paid withdrawals do count towards the allowance) then I will never get a free withdrawal again.
If I don’t get charged for it (fee-paid withdrawals don’t count towards the allowance), then I would only pay 3% on every third withdrawal, and so I would receive £200 of free withdrawals every 33 days.

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edit: yep, I’m wrong don’t roll day 23

Your right-hand table is correct.

of course it gets more complicated as you are withdrawing not a GBP amount but another currency and the amount withdrawn of currency ABC 125.00 MAY equal GBP 100.00 but a few days later you may take ABC 125.00 out of the machine and find that equalled GBP 105 or GBP 95 perhaps as the exchange rate altered. The whole system is as confusing as hell.

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Definitely :slight_smile: hopefully card acceptance will only continue improving rendering the whole cash thing meaningless in a few more years. Some countries like the UK, Canada, the US, etc… are already there.

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Hi Bea,

I’ve just read the blog on this topic, but I’m confused - is there a difference between how the ATM abroad fees now work for pre-paid and upgraded accounts?

Many thanks for your help,

Luke

Hey Luke, you’re right there’s a slight difference:

On upgraded accounts the limits and charges apply when you use ATMs outside the UK

On the prepaid, they apply when withdrawing foreign currency (so that could for example be withdrawing Euros at an ATM at the airport)

Hope that helps! :slightly_smiling_face: Sorry for any confusion

That’s a significant difference. I think this may be the first time I’ve heard of a true foreign transaction fee, instead of a foreign currency fee, on a UK-issued card.

Such fees are common in the US, HK and others, however.

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Or if in London - from the tube. We seem to have euro-dispensing ATMs for some unknown reason.

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I do believe those will only sell you euro in GBP, at least I thought. I’ve never dared try.

The bigger issue with a true FTF is making a foreign withdrawal and getting stung by DCC due to confusing screens AND your issuer’s fee both!

Never understood that either, to be honest. I guess it makes a bit of sense for Livepool St (you can get Euros before your train to Stansted Airport for your plane to a Eurozone country), but for places like Stratford it makes little sense, and just seems to be there to confuse tourists.

Liam

There are coaches from Stratford to airports so again it is appeal to tourists

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