International ZIP code?

Monzo Chat
1

I’m trying to use my Mondo card with Grubhub in the US, for online take-away.

It’s asking for a ZIP code.

With some of my other prepaid cards, I could sometimes log in and change the ZIP to suit a local address (say, an address of the hotel I’m staying) and then it’d work with local services / gas stations.

I’m getting a decline with random ZIP codes / 00000 / 99999 (which occasionally works with others).

Any plans to add dynamic “billing address” functionality for tailoring to overseas address verification?

2

I have found in the US that sometimes typing the digits of my postcode works. e.g. with a postcode of “E1 4TT”, I’d type 14000.

I agree that being able to override the billing address in other countries would be very useful though.

3

with one site they told me to enter my country code followed by zeros, e.g. 44000 for UK

4

Maybe just try the Zip code of the address your food is being delivered too

5

From an AML viewpoint when Mondo hold a banking license I doubt you would be permitted to tweek your address or postcode to enable a transaction to go thru like you suggest

6

Mondo would obviously still be aware of your real billing address - it might just be configurable to accept an alternative address for a week, etc.

The zip code of the destination definitely shouldn’t/wouldn’t work since Mondo does check the postal code if they receive it.

7

@anon44204028, I tried the zip code of the hotel – didn’t work. I’m guessing that’s because there’s an AV check, and the card is immediately failing. Not sure whether that’s merchant initiated, or a rejection on Mondo’s end.

With a Cash Passport USD card (one of those from Thomas Cook and the like), in the online dashboard it’s possible to change the address on file to point anywhere in the world… so I usually update that to my hotel location in the US and the zip check then works fine.

Something like that for Mondo would be great.

1 Like
8

Exactly, it’d be an “alternative address” (maybe billed as “Travel Address” or similar).

The actual billing address on file would still point to the AML/KYC verified home address.

I’m speculating - I’m not sure what MC’s policy is, let alone the PRA/FCA’s take on it - but if it’s possible, this would be ideal.

It could even be useful for anti-fraud. “Update your travel address when you’re away, and we’ll block physical transactions that are X miles away” type thing.

9

An “alternative” or “travel” address for temporary use is a cool idea. You were lucky your cash passport card allowed changing the address like that as I had another brand of prepaid card and if you changed the address online it would not update but would get sent to their office for approval before updating.

10

When I was in New York the subway ticket machines asked for a zip code; the customer services assistant said to always enter five 9s for non-US cards

11

Yeah, that’s a common convention, but it’s merchant-specific. It basically signals to the gateway that 99999 == ‘International’, so don’t run US Address Verification. I’ve seen it as five 0s too, but again, it’s up to the merchant or gateway to determine what that means.

Some of them require verification because it suits their business or fraud model better, and international cards don’t fit the profile.

In those cases (like Grubhub), presenting the merchant with a real US address puts it in the same bracket as a domestic transaction.

There are some merchants this probably wouldn’t suit - those that require the card issuer be based in the US might be one (I’ve come across that a couple of times- Hulu is a good example) - but having a secondary address that’s presented to the processor to pass basic AV would solve the majority of situations.

1 Like
12

This would really help when wanting to ship goods to a hotel too.