"Barclays Partner Finance" - rejected credit "because Monzo"

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So we’re getting a new kitchen! Huzzah!

We were hoping to pay for the kitchen with “Barclays Partner Finance” (BPF) - however on their online application form when I entered the sort code for my bank “04-00-04” - it says it’s unrecognised.

So I’ve had this problem before, when a company hasn’t updated their records and doesn’t know this is a legit sort code…

But this wasn’t the problem.

The problem is that the underwriters at BPF have advised that Monzo is an “online only” bank, and as such they don’t provide finance to its clients.

Now this feels to me like BPF being underhand and using their dominant position in the market to penalise new competitors of Legacy Banks, notably Monzo and other online-only startup banks.

I spoke to the Financial Ombudsman, and they told me that they probably won’t be able to do anything about this because BPF are free to choose who it does business with, and it doesn’t look like they’re being discriminatory as it’s currently recognised.

Monzo is my current account - I have no current account with any “Bricks and Mortar Legacy” banks, so I don’t have any options for finance from BPF at this time.

Has anyone else had this problem?

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I thought this was an issue originally (especially as Apple use BPF), but I also thought it was resolved?

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Wasn’t the solution to set it up with another bank then change to Monzo after it was approved though?

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This is going to be an issue come iPhone launch day…

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I’d find this quite frustrating. I still have my legacy accounts just in case but if everyone who encounters this issue just uses their legacy account then companies like BPF have no incentive in changing their policies. I’d look into other finance options and would revert to BPF as a last resort.

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I can’t remember.

That would be a royal pain in the ass if it was.

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What would be their stance on First Direct then, considering they’re also online-only?

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:frowning: it sure will! I was hoping to join the iPhone Upgrade Programme

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Unfortunately it is stuff like this that will put people of switching to Monzo :frowning:

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My BPF payments come from my Monzo account, but only after using CASS to switch them from HSBC.

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First Direct is a division of HSBC.

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I’d suggest dropping BACS an email so they can tell them to pull a finger out:
servicedesk@bacsservices.co.uk

Also email acceptance@monzo.com with a link to this thread so they can liaise with them to get this resolved.

:slight_smile:

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Hey @stampycode :wave:

We’ve had a few reports of this and it’s something we’re looking at internally. Really sorry you’ve had some trouble here.

Would you mind letting me know where you were given this information from? :point_down:

Was this information given to you by Barclays Partner Finance when you spoke to them? If you could give us a bit more context on this point we’d really appreciate it!

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I can see a lot of people complaining on iPhone launch day if this issue with BPF is not fixed. :pensive:

I just sent an email to servicedesk@bacsservices.co.uk, maybe we should all do it to put pressure on them.

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Yes this is what they told me on the phone. I raised a formal complaint about it, which they have marked as “resolved” because they’re not taking any further action.

I would forward you the formal complaint, but all it says is that I made a complaint and it’s been resolved, so it’s not very useful. The only useful part is the complaint code which I can use if I choose to take the action further with a formal body.

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Thanks Jack - I’ve just emailed BACS.

Also I spoke to Monzo yesterday, and hope they’ll keep us all informed of any outcome. :+1:

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Definitely be interested to learn the outcome of this, after Monzo try to resolve with Barclays…is it the same scenario with lots of finance providers or is this isolated to BPF?

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This should help a little.

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I don’t want to make any guarantees here as far as timescales are concerned, but we’d love to solve this.

Thanks Tim! That’s really helpful to know they’ve told you this directly.

I’ll keep this thread updated as we have more information to share :+1:

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Thanks @nickh, I did see that post before, and I’ve had to speak to multiple companies who didn’t “recognise” Monzo’s sort code, which were all resolved successfully.

I raised this issue separately because it seems to be a deliberate attempt to cause harm to Monzo’s business.

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