Hi
So I’m going backpacking for four months and work have given me sabbatical leave but I use my holiday for half of it and then I go two months with no pay… I will however have funds to pay my Monzo loan while away. Do I need to let Monzo know? Or will my my account be closed if money isn’t paid into my account 35 days after my last pay? If that makes sense?
So basically do I need to worry about anything?
No bank would close your account simply for not paying money in for any length of time. The only thing to think about with Monzo is, if you’re not on a paid plan, some allowances such as commission-free cash withdrawals may be reduced or removed if you are not putting money in within 35 days or whatever their set period is nowadays.
I don’t think you need to worry about the account closing. @dinosm is right that what you need to think about is that your limits and allowances might change, as Monzo will consider it ‘not your main account’
Either way you should really have a couple of other cards with you that don’t charge you abroad - Chase and Starling for example.
Interesting, never knew that. I have accounts (not HSBC) that have been without transactions for many years and to my knowledge they are not frozen.
It’s not common, but banks do close after an amount of time. Though a few months wouldn’t be an issue.
I know first direct put accounts to sleep, including on your credit file. Witnessed first hand. Not sure how long it is, probably 3 months as above but never had one closed.
I can only imagine it’s similar, if not the same, as HSBC.
“Asleep” after 12 months, unless £0.00 balance in which case closed.
Edit: Seems similar, though doesn’t mention closure:
Yes, your first direct Current Account will remain open providing that it is used at least once every 12 months. If there’s no activity, the account will go dormant. This means that it will be frozen, and you’ll need to pass some security checks to reactive it as you would today.
Though they mention 15 years (!!) dormant even with funds:
We all forget things. Where we parked the car, friends’ birthdays… But some people forget they have money in a bank account - and we can’t look after it forever. So, if after 15 years, nothing moves in your bank account and we haven’t been able to get hold of you, we’ll move the money into the government’s Unclaimed Assets Scheme, which uses the money for good things like community, social and environmental projects.
I think you might be confusing inactive with no income though, the OP won’t have an inactive account they just won’t be getting an income into it.
I think dinosm is right, no banks close accounts just because there is no income as far as I know.
True. Though over a year with no incoming it’s more than likely not being used.
I usually transfer £5 million in once every five years and just live off that. Isn’t that what most people do? Keeps things simple.
All joking aside, that’s more or less what I will be doing when I retire (sadly, with a smaller amount).
I’m coming to the end of a backpacking trip of 6 weeks for which I mainly used Monzo with no issues - bring multiple cards. I had a buggy ATM swallow my Monzo card, since then i’ve just been transferring to Revolut as needed and keeping it mainly frozen, would aim to bring 4+ cards with a bit of spare cash on each just incase of disaster
