I’ve spent over an hour today on the phone with Nationwide… To send a payment.
It beggars belief that something that would have taken a minute to do with Monzo took over an hour with Nationwide. The calls dropped multiple times and they didn’t ring back. I was put on hold for so long, and each advisor sounded confused. I then had to be transferred to a level 2 agent.
And again, this was for a payment. To send money to an account, in the UK. My account. £75 worth. I’m absolutely astounded at how difficult they made it. I was questioned multiple times on what the money was for and why I was sending it. Ugh.
Nice reminder of why banks like Monzo and Starling came about in the first place.
Perhaps a silly question, but why not use the Nationwide app?
Your comparison is a bit apples to oranges if you are comparing how easy it is to make a payment via an app with paying someone via a phone call. Obviously the call is going to take longer/be worse!
However, it does sound like you experienced some genuinely bad service for some reason. I have no personal experience of Nationwide on the phone, but they always seem to score respectably on the IPSOS Mori survey for service so I wouldn’t have thought they would usually be that bad.
A bit more detail for this point. I have a Nationwide mortgage, the current account is just there as a backup. I never use it. The money I wanted to transfer, funnily enough, was in there because of a goodwill payment from making a complaint to Nationwide for their service. (is this irony?).
I have the app set up on my phone, all logged in and fingerprint protected. I go to add my Monzo account to transfer the money and it requires (shudders) a card reader. I don’t have one, it’s probably lost over the years. I don’t use the account normally.
So I thought, ok, my fault, I’ll just ring them, pass security and get them to add a payee.
My god you’d think I’d asked them to sort out North Korea by how they reacted. 3 advisors and 1 hour later and they’re still unsure.
Got it done in the end. But my god, never again.
I’ve also just realised they never asked me if I wanted a replacement card reader sent out. Crap…
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Anarchist
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They aren’t, in my experience. Always answer the phone quickly and sort any issues out quickly.
As with all organisations (Monzo included) things don’t always go well.
They definitely answered the phone quickly, I’ll give them that.
But in the two times I’ve had to deal with them, it’s been a nightmare. Their complaints department is very nice though…
Just add to this. If you were to compare apples to apples all of the feedback on this forum says that you’d be lucky if you could get through to Monzo on the phone and even luckier if you could get them to do something without them directing you to the app
The Monzo phone support is supposed to be for situations where you can’t self-service through the app, so basically emergencies or if you are locked out.
I imagine they would help you get back into the app if you were stuck and then (perhaps) guide you through how to make a payment, or do whatever you wanted, yourself, at the most.
By the way, there is a way to login to Nationwide’s online banking without a card reader, and you can then request one somewhere in there. I don’t know if it’s a button or if you have to send them a secure message.
You can also use any old card reader if you do have one lying around from any other bank.
But now you’ve explained it, I do see how your problem came about - the irritating requirement to have a card reader to set up a new payee! So it makes a bit more sense, and I do agree with you that it’s crazy to still require the card reader even if the user is logged in to the app. The app itself would have been originally registered with a card reader, and logging in requires some level of security (something you are or something you know) so the app should really be a second factor (something you have) on it’s own!
It probably would have been quicker to write yourself a cheque and post it to Monzo.
PS: Also, to be fair to Nationwide, saying “I want to make a payment to a new payee, but I don’t have a card reader, and I want it to go now” is exactly what a fraudster would say to them if they were stealing your money.
So you shouldn’t be too surprised that it set off some alarm bells. It probably wouldn’t have done if you were using an existing payee that you’d verified and paid before.
And for those thinking : it’s only 75 quid! Worth keeping in mind that the fraudsters will try to get a lower amount authorised and the payee set up before exerting pressure for larger amounts to be sent. Even a seemingly innocuous payment can be the thin end of the wedge.
You can also ‘Move money’ directly from a connected account into a Monzo account with a Connected Account (Open Banking) which is a Plus/Premium feature. Nationwide is a supported bank, so you’d be able to do this from within the Monzo app with Plus/Premium. I don’t know if a card reader request would happen in this add/move money scenario via open Banking connection though.
