I understand that now Monzo has launched their new current accounts, they plan to phase out the prepaid card service in the near future.
I have a question to Monzo concerning how this will affect customers resident in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are effectively part of the same banking system as the UK in that our currency is GBP, we use Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS, UK sort codes, and the cash machines are the same as those in the UK and tied in with the same network. Yet if we enquire with any of the big high street banks on the UK mainland about opening an account, most of the time we get told in no uncertain terms “go away, you are not welcome”.
I don’t know if this is to do with legislation or if they are just being unreasonably awkward, or if it is a combination of both.
This means that as far as normal retail banking goes, we are generally much well less served here than people living in the UK, as we don’t have much to choose from beyond the big four UK high street banks which have operations here.
So, my question is - can resident of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man have a Monzo current account, or are we going to face the same frustrations as we do with the ordinary banks which turn us away?
So I don’t know if this is still the case but Is Monzo still UK only? seemed to suggest that any crown dependency was ok though this was written at the time of the prepaid card.
Maybe best to message customer operations hello@monzo.com or through the app for the latest advice, I’d love to know the answer, it would be great if it were available to the crown dependencies.
Technically you have a separate currency but due to a Currency Union they are at a 1:1 parity. These currencies have their own currency codes of GGP, JEP and IMP.
Bank of England notes and Royal Mint coins are used freely and interchangeably in the Channel Isles and Isle of Man; but unlike Scottish notes which are accepted with much reluctance across the UK (as they are guaranteed by deposits at the Bank of England of equivalent value to the notes produced) currency from Channel Isles and Isle of Man is not normally accepted by retailers though may be exchanged at the discretion of some banks in the UK.
The jurisdictions of the aforementioned Crown Dependencies are NOT covered by the UK’s Intergovernmental Agreement implementing FACTA but separate legislation. The International Tax Compliance (Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar) Regulations 2014 cover account holders in those dependencies and separate intergovernmental agreements were planned to be negotiated by the respective governments of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.
I am currently a Guernsey resident (not UK) for tax purposes, but when I try and sign up it is forcing me to say that I am a UK resident (I can also select other countries such as Guernsey). With the onset of CRS next year this will then be fed to the HMRC and they could start challenging my tax residency as the set up process/ questions essentially results in me self certifying that I am UK resident. This will create an incorrect tax exposure for me.
Thanks but the question has still not been answered. I can tick that I am UK resident but that is factually incorrect and may result in Monzo incorrectly filing my tax status to HMRC. Why can’t they just remove the mandated tick for UK Resident?
I agree and I don’t know what the answer is. Emailing help@monzo.com may elicit a quicker response?
The fact that the islands have always had their own legally separate banking entities for as long as I can remember must be for a reason and this declaration may be the flip-side of that - a mainland version of the same thing.
I am indeed aware of that but I didn’t bring it up in my original question because for everyday banking that has very little impact; the point I was alluding to is that there are no practical or logistical reasons why residents of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man cannot be offered the same financial products that are offered to UK residents. In terms of address, our postcodes appear on the UK postcode database so no problems there. If any complications exist they will be to do with UK regulation or legislation.
It is not just a problem for residents of the crown dependencies; it seems for some reason that UK banks are averse to allowing anyone living anywhere other than the UK to have an account with them. This is not the case for many other countries. I was able to open a bank account in France no problem despite not having a permanent address there, yet try to get one in the UK and it is like banging my head against a brick wall.
I don’t pretend to understand all the many complex regulations and conditions under which financial institutions in the UK operate, but I believe it is most likely that where a UK bank or financial institution refuses to accept a resident of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man as a customer, it is a case of “To comply with the regulations under which we operate we would have to do a little bit of extra work to accommodate you and we can’t be bothered” rather than “sorry those regulations mean we are not allowed to have you and there is nothing we can do.”
In the case of credit cards, some providers accept us with no problem, whilst others providers say “no, not if you live in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man”.
Considering that Monzo was established to offer a refreshing alternative to people who are fed up with the big banks, I would hope that they would be willing to accommodate us.
I can’t even pretend to begin to understand banking legislation; but the Channel Islands are on the greylist due to their corporate tax rates. Surely, being a person and not a corporation, that should not affect the rights for us to use debit cards for our own personal use?
While I reside in the UK for my studies:- it would be interesting to understand whether onzo consider Channel Island addresses to be included in the definition of a UK address.
I’ll look out for the coral card glowing in your pocket 
shopping on the bridge.
onzo consider Channel Island addresses to be included in the definition of a UK address.