Hello! I’m not sure if this has been posted on here before, but I’ll share my idea regardless. I work in the Martime industry and visit many countries around the world on a regular basis. I think it would be quality if there was an in app exchange rate, where you can just look up the details rather than wait till a purchase has been made.
I think the current method where you are redirected to Mastercards website is a little slow and clunky. Where a sleak top 10 currencies (£,€,$ etc.) can be quickly accessed and then you get a “See more” option where a longer list drops down or a “scroll” button with the country you’re looking for and it compares that currency to your “Home currency” for quick conversions.
I also think that you should have a little map of the world for travelers/explorers and when a card is used in that country it marks it off the map. Would be really fun.
I agree, it would be quite a nice feature to see the FX rate inside the Monzo app But as you’ve said, in the meantime you can see it on Mastercard’s site so at least it’s possible to do so - even if it’s not the prettiest interface
Totally agree Unfortunately that’s quite difficult now because the rate is provided by Mastercard and (as far as I know), we don’t get live access to that rate until the purchase is made. But we were talking about fixing the rate ourselves so that a) we could give you predictability on the rate and b) it wouldn’t change between authorization and presentment. It would mean us taking on some FX risk though
That sounds a good idea. Given 2-3 business days between a transaction at the till and clearing you will make gains and losses. Would you need to build in a safety mechanism should the pound dive like we saw after the lovely vote last year
I bet! Would that follow down the route of being commission based if Monzo looked to take on the risk. I mean, I guess you’d have to then.
Could you even go down the route of if cash is taken out with the travel card then a exchange rate plus a point or two is applied. Sort of like the way credit cards apply a fee if cash is withdrawn. That could help even the field out of purchases on the card directly.
I’d love it, as long as it doesn’t work like Revolut, with a magical markup on weekend to prevent the risk.
It would make Monzo feel a lot more instant (bought and paid, done! Never check what really was the rate that I got), remove further risks of getting overdrawn. YES PLZ.
My only concern about this is it is starting to get untransparent and complicated. I would prefer to remain with the current system if at all possible…
I think if anything it’ll be more transparent. As other people have mentioned they would prefer to see the rate they are getting and not have the amount change. On most occasions, the amount goes up for me but it’s usually no more than 10, 20p so I’m not very bothered given how I’m still saving money. If someone is making a big ticket purchase they might find themselves paying more and feel “cheated”.
Maybe Monzo can show changes in the rate for the last few days when they ask if that is the rate they would like to accept immediately, and users can choose to accept it or decide to wait and see if it works better in their favour
Of course, it would need some sort of API or other data provided directly, it’s not really viable to scrape calculator values from mastercard website. I checked and Monzo gives exchange rate exactly like on this tool, based on the day when transaction settles.
There’s another caveat to mention here too unfortunately. The MasterCard site only displays one rate per day but when Monzo transactions settle..
Still, as long as nothing catastrophic has happened, there shouldn’t be a big difference in the rate that’s displayed on the site vs the rate that’s applied.
But as you’ve said, in the meantime you can see it on Mastercard’s site so at least it’s possible to do so - even if it’s not the prettiest interface 
… You’ll like this thread:
Unfortunately that’s quite difficult now because the rate is provided by Mastercard and (as far as I know), we don’t get live access to that rate until the purchase is made. But we were talking about fixing the rate ourselves so that a) we could give you predictability on the rate and b) it wouldn’t change between authorization and presentment. It would mean us taking on some FX risk though 
