I found Monzo on 2 January 2017 and signed up for a card right away. I waited patiently in the queue in the app til today (5 February) and… was advised that the card was not available in New Zealand - where I live! Imagine how I feel!?
If you are trying to be better than the banks maybe you shouldn’t mislead people and waste their time.
angry:
1 Like
I’m sorry to hear that you’re annoyed about this. Monzo are aware that they need to improve here & are working on a solution -
1 Like
Practically, when might NZ get Monzo/the debit car? - a week, a month, a year…
I wouldn’t expect Monzo to release internationally before they have been issuing UK current accounts for a while and have a basic service at the minimum. So most likely at least a year or so
1 Like
I don’t have any special information on this so this is just a guess but I’d be surprised if it’s this year.
We know that Monzo are testing Euro & US Dollar accounts at the moment & Tom seems to have his eye on the US.
But the launch of the current accounts is taking up a lot of the team’s time at the moment and the take up of the overdrafts will probably be key because that’s the first product that will earn Monzo revenue & should enable them to break even. I expect that has to go pretty well before proper expansion can begin.
Here was the last comment on international expansion from the Monzo team -
Tom has just done an interview with the FinTech Insiders podcast, which is due out later this week, though so perhaps we’ll find out more about their plans then.
I’ll post that here in the community of course 
1 Like
So the product/platform isn’t international at all! Why, oh why do you accept sign ups from people outside the UK - Mondo, as a brand, seems to be somewhat of a misnomer!?
Anyway, I am very annoyed by being messed around the way I have been.
Yes that’s correct 
2 Likes
I’ve not seen Monzo advertising as a fully functioning international product at all?
Yes they could make it much more obvious in my opinion that if you are not in the UK you are currently ineligible but they are working on that
4 Likes
While it would be good if the stores made that clear, equally there is nothing saying it is available outside the UK or globally. If I saw an app by a NZ bank even if it did not make it clear what countries it was available in my assumption would be it was not available outside NZ unless it stated it was available internationally.
4 Likes
I take your point.
I was frustrated at being put on a waiting list for a card, even though I indicated that I was NZ based, and was then advised that the card/service was not available to me.
I visited 20+ New Bank sites looking for a fee free, including FX, debit card; signed up with six; Monzo gave the impression and came across as a provider targeting international presence; being actively shortlisted, or so it seemed, was encouraging if ultimately misguided.
I’m sure that as an internationalist, have lived in 9 countries worldwide, I also saw what I wanted to see in my application to Monzo but am confident that this misadventure was promoted by both parties.
Its not easy to find a visa/Mastercard that doesn’t charge for FX like a wounded bull. My search continues!
Oh yes, the other sites clearly specify their geographical limitations making such misapplications improbable and avoiding irking applicants untowardly.
1 Like
It is crazy that neither on the main home page nor in the terms there is no mention of this! So that is something Monzo do need to address
1 Like
At least a basic geo screen (e. g. UK mobile number, UK address, etc.) when signing up would prevent others experiencing what I have. That would preclude willful or stupid applications from those outside the UK.
I meant to say it would limit sign ups to only the willful.
UK residents may have a non-UK number. Just a simple message on the website, in the store and in the app is better than any technical restrictions. For example a UK resident may wish to apply while on a trip so they return home to their card.
Hey Scotty, apologies for the disappointment and confusion here, we definitely need to communicate this more clearly in the app and beyond! The fact we promote the Monzo card as great for travelling (FX free spending and competitive Mastercard exchange rates) could in some cases give the impression that the card is available to customers internationally. The last thing we want to do is mislead people with our offering, it does nothing but leave those new to Monzo with a poor introductory experience 
Informing people at the sign up stage will make more sense than rigid technical controls as a solution; you only need a UK address to sign up, not a UK phone number.
Whilst the focus is on launching as a bank in the UK this year, we do want to work towards expansion internationally at some point. We’ll most likely start to explore this once we’ve found our feet as a regulated bank and all our UK customers have access to the Monzo current account, so it could be a couple of years until you see us in NZ!
4 Likes
Thanks, good luck with your journey!
I’m sure/hope that I will find a cheap multicurrency debit card for my purposes.
Yes, Mondo means world, but it’s not called Mondo anymore.
1 Like
There’s some good news on Monzo’s international expansion plans today, particularly for European users 
-
Further geographic expansion depends on the availability of capital. By 2017, our UK banking authorisation should allow us to operate across
Europe under our own licence…
Screenshot from Monzo’s Crowdcube investment deck.
1 Like
Monzo is UK bank why would you join if no UK addresss ?