When I first signed up to Monzo around Sep 18 I had the odd challenge with it being accepted for things like direct debits, card payments etc. No Biggie, it was a challenger bank and I liked it (still do )
Over time it got better & better with acceptance etc, as you would expect.
Just recently though,Iāve had a spate of issues with Monzo being accepted.
Getting Euroās at post office - donāt accept Monzo
New Direct Debit for Car - took 4, four attempts for it to be setup as it kept failing
Buying at Liverpool Airport, last week, card wouldnāt work contactless, only via Chip/Pin
On Plane, EasyJet were unsure about taking it, had to check and eventually agreed
In Tenerife, Card wouldnāt work contactless on any machine, had to put it in each time. Apple pay was intermittent
6.On way back, card kept failing in machine at airport, eventually worked via Apple Pay
On car park on way out contactless kept failing.
Strange thing is I used my card in Minorca last year no dramaās, and it is working fine in the uk each & every time apart from over the last month now & again
Now - it may well be my card has become faulty, this happens. However, my experience over the last month is that Monzo is becoming less & less accepted by places, surely this should be the other way around?
Please dont think of this as a rant - I intend to remain #fullmonzo, but the more this happens the more Iām looking at re-opening with a legacybank
Iād start with the card. Anything at an airport is likely high use and not well maintained (from what Iāve seen at least) so it might be the sensitivity of those machines + an ageing Card/Chip??
Not sure on the Post Office thing, that might be standard (or just one Post Office gone rogue?)
DD isnāt linked to the card, is it? Thatās to your bank account?
Buying what? and where? Might be a vendor issue?
EasyJet staff need better training
Poor technology infrastructure more likely?
High use, wonky machines?
Just my thoughts, I get it might seem like card acceptance is getting worse given the proximity of those experiences!
Maybe itās YOU! My Mum was convinced, for years, that she would break things like bank cards because of static electricity that she was āproneā toā¦ now, I love my Mum butā¦ yeah, no.
If it helps, Iām full monzo and havenāt experienced any issues for ages - the only one I can remember in the last year is the toll bridge in Dublin. They wouldnāt even let us try the card and I suspect that was a hangover from prepaid days.
Although my sister did have a couple of issues a few months ago trying to set up direct debits with Debenhams store card and a less well-known insurance company (Go Skippy).
This is likely down to the way the Post Office process card transactions - they do it a non-standard way in order to get an extra commission fee, IIRC, and as Monzo donāt have an agreement for banking services with the PO thatās why it wonāt work with any of their cards.
Historically Easyjet have been problematic. When Monzo were still using pre-paid cards, EasyJet staff were told not to accept them. Since they were all migrated to full account cards they work fine. Possibly you had an EasyJet staff member who was half-remembering the historic issues/instructions.
3, 5, 6. As others have noted, this sounds like an issue with the physical card. Hopefully the new one youāve ordered will work better. (I had to replace a card because it was dodgy with contactless also, new one works perfectly)
This is the only instance that sticks out as a genuine acceptance issue. Possibly they had to update their BIN table or something similar? It might be worth flagging it through the in-app chat so Monzo acceptance staff can investigate if necessary.
One of of six aināt bad, I donāt think the problem is as bad as you fear. I think the fact you have a faulty card is queering the pitch.
That said! Iād say opening an account with a legacy bank is still a good idea. Even if 99% of the time you never touch it, itāll give you options - especially if they give you a VISAc card - in the event there are any problems with Monzo acceptance or the Mastercard network. I still have my legacy account open, barely use it, but itās there if I need it.
Regarding 3,5 and 6 - sounds like your card may be defective/damaged.
I went to Tenerife (on EasyJet fwiw) in Jan, and had no Monzo acceptance issues whatsoever - everywhere I tried contactless it worked first time, it worked in every ATM I used it in, no problems at all for me.
Iād echo whatās been said here - order a replacement card in the app and see if that makes a difference. In the last 12 months Iāve used my card in Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria without any problems. It certainly sounds like thereās an issue with contactless on your card, so replacing it will eliminate that.
If you have do have issues with specific merchants (such as EasyJet, Car Direct Debit) then please let us know through chat. We do follow up all merchant acceptance problems, but if we donāt know about them we canāt
Agree here too. On the very odd occasion my HSBC Visa Debit has had issues with a Chip/PIN reader, and the cashier has insisted that rubbing the chip clean will magically make it work, I just humour them, and assume that it is in fact their card reader that is failing.
I absolutely agree. To be honest, opening a second account of any kind (legacy or challenger) is a must. And as has been said, one of each of VISA/MasterCard is a good idea too. I have very little sympathy for people who are but in difficult situations because they only have one bank account.
Did it fail contactless or chip and pin? Donāt forget that new rules now mean that after so many contactless charges up to a certain value, you need to use chip and pin for a transaction to āauthoriseā continuing with contactless again.
The app should warn you when youāre getting near that though? I generally use ApplePay for most payments now which avoids that rule.
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