šŸ‡¦šŸ‡ŗ Monzo in Australia [Discussion]

hey

I will be moving to Australia for at least a year in July.
Will be keeping my same phone but will be using a different sim from Australia. Just want to know if this would throw up any login issues for me?

thanks :slight_smile:

Probably only two issues and not related to login.
PIN reminders are sent via text (defo on Android, not sure about iOS).
Status.io notifications when Monzo has problems, I believe, go to number associated with your account.

Why not change phone number associated with Monzo account and then change it back? :grin:

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All ATMSā€™s in Australia charge between $2-3 Dollars, I used to live there and any card user who does not have their card will be charged which was a bit of a nightmare, but means monzo users are no worse off, and contactless works everywhere I tried (in sydney and melbourne) so all good. I love that they convert it for you too! :grinning:

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Hi guys
Iā€™ve just relocated to Melbourne after travelling Asia for a few months. Been here a week now and just thought Iā€™d share experiences Iā€™ve had with monzo.
Firstly, everything here seems to be contactless (paywave as they call it) I think Iā€™ve needed cash once so far, everywhere from bars to shops to coffee shops accept card which is great and the notifications are working fine.
I have used ATMs a couple of times out of interest and itā€™s always nice to have cash just in case. I found most ATMs charge. The only rediATMs Iā€™ve found are sponsored by NAB (national Australia bank) and they all tell me there will be a $3 fee for the withdrawal. I know redi have other ATMs that arenā€™t NAB so maybe these are the free ones but Iā€™m yet to try. However, a major bank here ANZ have given me free withdrawals so Iā€™d suggest using ANZ if you ever need or want cash as the three Iā€™ve tried all offer money with no fee!

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Hi Iā€™ve used Monzo card in Sydney and surrounding area!! Iā€™ve used for many things shops, hostel, gasoline!! Working perfectly!!

Does anyone have experience of using Monzo in Western Australia, specifically for buying petrol? I have heard that there are sometimes issues using Monzo for this.

Hey, I have just signed up to Monzo and there are about 30k plus in the queue for a prepaid card. Is there a lead time for arrival? I am going to Australia early October and was hoping to use Monzo there.

Also, I noticed there is a $3 fee for withdrawals, is that specifically for Monzo cards or all cards?

Thanks!
Katy

Hi Katy, Iā€™ll send you golden ticket to skip the queue via direct message, so please check there.

$3 fee for withdrawal is not a Monzo fee, itā€™s fee that those 2 banks charge users. You can find similar charge when using few UK ATMs networks, basically itā€™s not free withdrawal. Most likely this fee is imposed on all foreign cards, or simply all cards regardless of bank/country.

Hi!
Just got to Oz and have found all the forum posts Iā€™ve read really helpful. However one question (as I canā€™t find the post I saw before), if an ATM asks me which account to withdraw (in dollars) from, shall I select credit or savings? This is what I was asked when using monzo in the ATM. I cancelled the transaction and will wait for a reply!

Thanks!

Iā€™ve been in Aus for the last 2 months, had zero problems with monzo :slight_smile:

you need to select savings and it will work for you

Rich

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Are you sure about choosing ā€œsavingsā€ Rich @nickelslol ?

My experience of 20 years business travel to Australia, most recently Aug/Sep 2017:

The normal choice in Australia , when using a foreign card at an ATM and faced with the ā€œcheque, savings or creditā€ choice, is to choose ā€œcreditā€ .

Iā€™ve never had any of the other choices accepted, and since Monzo is linked Mastercard, I thought ā€œcreditā€ would be the only choice. Iā€™m happy to be informed otherwise.

To get back to OP - As far as taxis go, Iā€™ve never encountered a taxi in Australia in the last twenty years that didnā€™t take credit cards. However, be aware that most taxis still use ā€œCabchargeā€ which adds 5-10% for card payment. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabcharge#10.25_surcharge_on_taxi_fares_paid_by_card

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yep, been here 3 months and thatā€™s what I have been using and had no problems at all

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Hi everyone, Iā€™m new to e forum and just trying to find my way round. Iā€™m going on holiday soon to Australia and just would like to ask if I can use Bank Transfer (from usual UK bank) and usual top up if needed while I am there and as long as I can access internet.
Sorry if this is not the correct place to post this.

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Hey, yes youā€™ll still be able to top up while youā€™re away :+1:

Although to make sure you donā€™t run into any issues (your bank having planned maintenance for example), you could transfer the money now & move it to a Pot. Itā€™ll be safe there as it canā€™t be spent until you withdraw it from your Pot & it wonā€™t show up in your balance once itā€™s in a Pot either :slight_smile:

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Thanks Alexs for that advice - sounds like a good idea.

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Iā€™m off to Australia in March for 6 weeks for my best friends wedding so itā€™s really good to see as much positive feedback regarding usage in Australia. One less thing to worry about :tada:

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Just back from Sydney and Monzo worked well

Couple of exceptions where transaction was instantly reversed (shows in Monzo with immediate refund) - same on retry in both cases. Had to use backup card.

Currently in Australia, card works perfectly. At a petrol station near the airport in Melbourne the cashier said she loves these cards (referring to the colour), and said she has spotted quite a few in the last month. :heart: Monzo

Just back from a month in Australia. Card worked absolutely perfectly!
A worker in JB-HiFi recognised the card and said sheā€™s seen them quite a few times now :slight_smile:

Iā€™m doing a working holiday in Australia for a couple months - do I still need to open an Australian bank account, or can I just use Monzo as my bank account? Thank you :smiley: