I recently changed my name by deed poll and used Monzo’s in-app chat to inform the bank about this and provide my evidence.
As part of that process, when I indicated that this name change wasn’t due to marriage, divorce or gender reassignment, I was asked why I was changing my name with the question “Can you tell us a bit more about the reason for your change of name?” or similar.
I can see how this has easily slipped through the net, but asking this is completely and utterly inappropriate. For me, and for many other people, the reasons behind consciously deciding to change your name can be extremely personal, sometimes even based in deep-rooted traumas, and often have to do with fundamental facts, experiences and relationships that shape your very identity.
I know that might sound all a bit dramatic, but the important bit is this: Monzo needs to know how the customer has changed their name (i.e. by marriage, deed poll, etc.), but it does not need to know why. No other financial institution I’ve changed my name with has asked this, and nor should Monzo.
Just a shot in the dark, but…
Monzo allow you to put your preferred name on your card. For example, if you were called Jonathan, and you signed up with that name, but later decided to go by just “Jon”, I believe Monzo will let you, which would explain the reason why they still give you the option to change your name.
I’ve checked the process (up to the point of asking if you want a new card, since I have no reason to actually change my name), and when asked for the reason you want to change your name, wouldn’t “changed by deed poll” be the answer? The previous question asks if it’s due to marriage, divorce or a typo. Maybe Monzo should add “deed poll” to that list for simplicity.
This is the first time I’ve said anything about it! I couldn’t see a way to provide more direct feedback to Monzo, so I thought I’d leave it here instead.
I think you might have misunderstood there. This hasn’t got anything to do with changing my “preferred name” from or to a nickname or shortening of my actual name. This is about a change in my legal name. In this instance, it’s my surname that I have decided to change for personal reasons.
“Changed by deed poll for personal reasons” was in fact the reason I gave when asked that question. It may well be that what Monzo is trying to get at by asking that question is the mechanism by which the customer has changed their name (e.g. deed poll) rather than the reason behind it. If that’s the case then the key point there, as I said in my original post, is that they’ve phrased the question clumsily. That is about how the person has changed their name, not why.
Ultimately, a customer in my circumstances should never feel as if their bank is asking them why they have changed their name, which is how I did feel and how I’m sure many others in my position have felt. A change to question wording is all I’m advocating here. I hope that’s clear.
And I think you’re right, it would make perfect sense to add “deed poll” to that list. It’s common enough!
Hi Paul, thanks a lot for explaining this. I had misunderstood and thought that posts from this forum got fed through to or engaged with by Monzo, so I’m really grateful to you for setting me right on that. I’ll contact them directly through the app and let you know how I get on.
Monzo has gone from being one of the best at knowing how to handle name changes and being respectful to being really bad. This is even worse than my recent experience. Reason is none of their business and I would strongly encourage you to open a formal complaint.
I did just open a formal complaint, and your experience is even worse so definitely do do this as soon as you can. Maybe if they start getting formal complaints, whoever at Monzo decided to throw away their previous (correct and really respectful) policies will be corrected and they’ll fix this.