Card Acceptance - Getting worse?

It was contactless via ApplePay. It failed twice.

Hey Everyone :wave:

Thanks for all the responses, Iā€™ll keep an :eyes: on things and see how it goes.

The EasyJet One is a staff training one now that I remember, she asked if it was pre-paid, I said it wasnā€™t and she went and checked and said it was ok

FWIW - I used Monzo last year in Minorca & Maderia without any issues, so I was also a little surprised of the issues this time around. Perhaps the card is :duck: so Iā€™ll order another one.

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I think I must be really lucky, or perhaps a low-level user (945 card transactions last year according to Year in Monzo).

Iā€™ve not had a single fail or decline in in 4.5 years, including the Alpha period.

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Thatā€™s very odd because from my understanding of how ApplePay works (and Iā€™m sure thereā€™s more knowledgeable people here who can correct me if Iā€™m wrong), the merchant themselves transact with Apple and not directly with your bank. The merchant doesnā€™t actually even get given your card details and instead get an Apple Token which Apple then used to convert that over to your card in their system and forwards the charge to your bank.

When you switched by to HSBC, was that also via ApplePay or by card?

If it was by card, that might mean there was an issue with the merchant and ApplePay, if HSBC went through on ApplePay though - a issue between Apple and Monzo?

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when easyjet accepted my monzo! I have no idea why they (EJ) intermittent- seems Stone Age

Your response reads as though you think Iā€™m talking rubbish? :thinking: Iā€™m not.

I understand what youā€™re saying about card details and tokens and I think youā€™ve grasped a red herring.

Whatever the communication is, I suspect thereā€™ll be some to at least establish I have sufficient funds for the transaction. (The transaction was for Ā£7.27 with over Ā£1,000 available)

For whatever reason, Monzo via ApplePay was declined on the terminal. Twice.

I understand Monzo was having some issues last night around the time I tried to use the card (via ApplePay). I donā€™t know whether their issues were affecting card transactions?

I switched to HSBC via ApplePay because, unlike the FinTechs, this has never let me down. To put it in context, this is the first time Monzo has failed me.

Over the last month or so Iā€™ve had a couple of occasions where Iā€™ve happily used my contactless to pay for something, it bleeps and seems happy enough, so I put my wallet away and begin to walk off, to then have the awkwardness of the cashier saying ā€œwait that declinedā€ :roll_eyes:

Is there some sort of Monzo-specific thing where you have to use chip and pin instead of contactless sometimes?
I donā€™t get this at all when I use Lloydā€™s weirdly. Itā€™s quite annoying!

Thatā€™s Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) which it seems some banks are taking quite a long time to implement (itā€™s the law!), but Monzo/Starling/etc have it in place already. You should (I believe) get an alert in your app if you do a contactless transaction that failed because you need to enter your PIN.

Itā€™s nothing to do with card acceptance. Have a read of this:

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To add onto what @tbutz said, if you want to use contactless without any limits use Apple or Google Pay :slight_smile:

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I can speak to the Post Office one. I bought Japanese Yen at a Post Office a few weeks ago, no problems at all. Canā€™t imagine it has anything to do with the currency being purchased so that is very odd and I agree with another user who has suggested theyā€™ve gone ā€œrogueā€.

Iā€™ve also used my card on flights without probs too so that does sound like just poor training from Easyjet.

I had DD issues when Monzo first launched with their full banking licence but nothing in the past year at least.

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Itā€™s part of a directive so more like a general aim. The EBA basically went yeah it was ambitious setting the goal for Sep 2019, have until Mar 2020, or until Mar 2021, or longer.

Do we know if any other banks than Monzo, Starling, n26, Dozens, Revolut (that all did it for the original date) implemented it yet?

First Direct has implemented it some time ago.

Tried to use monzo this evening.

Declined for the third time in a row despite sufficient funds.

Credit to monzo for responding to in-app chat within a couple of minutes.

Explanation is that merchant is using a hybrid terminal. I donā€™t really care about the payment technology infrastructure, I just want the debit card to work to pay for things.

Never had this issue with any other bank. Ever. In the last 32 years.

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So youā€™ve had an instant response from your current bank regarding the first banking error youā€™ve experienced in 32 years, which isnā€™t directly related to your current bank, and this is an issue?

I donā€™t understand your criticism of my post?

  • Iā€™ve been using current accounts for 32 years
  • I have never had a debit card transaction with any bank fail during that time
  • The last three transactions using a Monzo debit card have all failed (plenty of funds available)
  • Monzo is blaming the merchantā€˜a equipment (other banks work fine with it)

Regardless of the bank (although in this case, the bank of the future), a customer should not be concerned with the infrastructure, just that their debit card will work reliably.

And that is the point.

Please clarify your criticism of my post.

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Itā€™s because they saw more Monzo cards back in the prepaid days (proportionally than other merchants at that time) because most early adopters of Monzoā€™s prepaid cards were using them for holidays due to the free cash withdrawals and generous exchange rate. Prepaid cards arenā€™t accepted on flights, so they are intermittent because the staff have been told in the past not to accept Monzo and some of them have not been corrected. Also, I suspect the distinct colour means they remember having some issue with the bright cards and not remembering specifics.

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I wouldnā€™t class it as criticism. More clarification. As presented, the issue is that your current bank responded to you ā€œin a couple of minutesā€ stating that it was an issue beyond their control.

Initially, a very defensive response from you TBH. Not sure where you are going with that, but happy to listen to further clarification if something is missing.

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No. Youā€™ve cherry-picked an issue and have put words into my mouth. It is completely within Monzoā€™s control. Thatā€™s the point.

The issue is that Monzo, the bank of the future, has declined the last three transactions (with two different merchants) despite there being sufficient funds in the account.

Theyā€™ve not commented on the first two. The third (with the other merchant) they say is due to a merchant payment acquisition method (hybrid terminal) that Monzo has chosen not to support. Legacy banks, however, do support it.

My point was that Iā€™ve been using debit cards for 32 years without issue. Last three transactions with Monzo have all had issues.

I have spoken about it here as this is a topic discussing these matters.

Something in the community guidelines about attacking the person, is there not?

It does seem to be a truism that many Monzo fanatics are completely unprepared to accept any suggestion of any deficiencies or failing with the bank.

Some on here contribute and raise problems or issues that exist and some try and talk them out, dismissing them out of hand.

I appreciate this may not have happened to you, and it had not happened to me for 32 years across a number of banks, but it is the case that the last three transactions with Monzo have been declined and, when asked, Monzo acknowledges that they donā€™t support the ability for a customer to pay with their debit card with some merchants.

Iā€™d suggest this is a disadvantage.

I did, however, acknowledge Monzoā€™s quick response in-app as I know from this forum that this is an area in which they have been challenged recently. So, to be balanced in my critique of them/their service, credit where itā€™s due.

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Thank you, I appreciate the time taken to clarify your point.

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Thank you.

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