For me the process was that I went to ASDA to fuel up, card was declined. I contacted ASDA and Monzo to find out where the issue was and Monzo were first to reply saying it was a known issue restricted to ASDA and fuel payments only and they were working on establishing the problem and finding a solution.
ASDA replied a lot later saying they’d look into it.
I think there’s been as much clarity as there could be expected from any other organisation of the types involved and the issue has now been resolved and ASDA have said it was entirely on their side.
I can’t see anything that’s happened that would make me consider either not using Monzo any more or not getting my fuel from ASDA.
Issue occurred, both sides acknowledged it and it was resolved in a few days. Job done, right?
Disclaimer - I’m not an ASDA customer, and understand the potential hiccups that may still happen with a bank like Monzo.
You, as an investor and forum reader for over 2 years will also understand that (as shown in your post).
But there will undoubtedly people who aren’t into the FinTech scene, and simply use Monzo because it came recommended by someone, that will now think twice (and possibly use Monzo as a travel type card, rather than a main current account in the UK).
Sounds extreme to me and you (as we can see the full extent of the issue, and how it was resolved), but to them, they will just see a debit card failing when every other card has likely worked for them in the past 20 years (appreciate bank systems go down, but I don’t know anyone whose been affected).
I don’t see it causing lasting damage, but it was all very bizarre watching it unfold from the sidelines.
I think the number of people who will have been put off by one arm of one retailer having problems accepting a card for less than a week will be incredibly small. A bare fraction of a percent, if that.
I believe most customers would see it as an ASDA issue, not a Monzo issue, given the card continued to work everywhere else. I remember visiting my local Tesco last year and there were signs over all the self-service card terminals saying they couldn’t currently accept contactless, for example. Clearly a Tesco problem, not a bank problem. So I didn’t ditch any of my banks.
And, hell. If TSB can still keep ticking along after the MASSIVE problems they had last year - logically 100% of their customer base should’ve switched away after that - then Monzo are surely not going to see any effect from a problem so comparatively minor that it’s not even on the same scale.
Oh, I don’t doubt that the people genuinely put off will be minimal (very minimal), but they’ll certainly exist.
I remember when I first used Starling and quite early on, I had an issue with a payment (to this day, I don’t know if it was GPS or what, but I never got an answer).
To make matters worse it was in a hospital as I was trying to pay for baby pic scans (imagine if I couldn’t pay for it, my wife would have killed me).
It was likely one of these freak occurrences that are so so rare, but I happen to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and it left a lasting memory.
I think it’s just a reality that these little things will happen for a few years yet.
Yikes! That’s definitely one of the worst possible times for there to be a payment problem! The worst I ever had when Monzo were still using GPS was, again, Tesco. I can see how in situations like yours the impact would stick in mind more, though.
(Indeed, one of the reasons I stuck with Monzo rather than considering Starling was the knowledge that Monzo were building their own stack while Starling were sticking with GPS.)
I’m fairly edge case in these scenarios as I use my debit card so rarely (99% shopping online or Amex in the shops where possible).
So that one time use of Starling might have been the only time in the month.
I guess 1 failure out of 100’s of transactions won’t stick in the mind too much - But I wonder how many people were into their first few months of using Monzo, when the Asda issue struck?
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how people start adapting to the newer banks, and whether they don’t mind the occasional hiccup, or if they want a boring, uninterrupted service.
I’m pretty sure that the majority want a boring, uninterrupted, service, that they will also see as safe, dependable, and secure.
I don’t think the Asda issue is going to cause too much of a problem in the long run but this stuff really needs to be stamped out. Monzo want to offer the world’s best current account, and that shouldn’t mean random declines and carrying spare cards around with you.
I always fill up at Asda as it’s literally a stones throw away , I went to fill up as needed to but also just to confirm my PAP goosed ,so then went to a shell garage about 2miles away they didn’t have PAP as wanted to test it
Personally a couple of days issue as a fuel station would never put me off regardless of being an investor as had a inside with Tesco fuel pumps a few years ago with RBS, TSB last issue yep not touching them
For me, I filled up first and then went to the booth that declined the card. I had no other method of paying, so asked if I could be trusted to go to the cash machine. The question I got was “With that card??” because they just see ‘DECLINED’ they assumed that I didn’t have the funds to pay.
Not a good situation for myself or the cashier to be in.
Also, “communication” is a very loose term to describe how everyone was made aware. For example. My local Asda stores never communicated anything
I don’t blame anyone for the situation, these things can happen. It just would have been nice to find out sooner rather than later but this one situation won’t make me think of changing banks anytime soon
I guess, if I’ve learnt anything, it is that being 100% Monzo isn’t a good idea and perhaps I should open a second account, just in case
I guess, if I’ve learnt anything, it is that being 100% Monzo isn’t a good idea and perhaps I should open a second account, just in case
I have ever only had one bank account even before going #fullmonzo so now that I am #fullmonzo with a JA and personal account and to help matters have my dozens prepaid
Suppose I may look to get a visa credit card once my credit rating ascends from hell
I just filled up at ASDA pay at pump.
The £1 authorisation declined, I had about £10 in my account.
Took £100 out of a pot and tried again successfully. I assume you need a minimum of £99 available now to get fuel.
This has never been a problem before, i could always get fuel even if I only had a couple of £ in my account. Is there any acknowledgement from Monzo yet that this has changed now?
Even though it was an Asda issue, it would have been good to have sent a notification warning of this issue to all users who have had multiple Asda transactions in recent months (by far the most likely people to be affected) it would have saved a few blushes and built more trust, instead of having people wonder if they were foolish to go fullmonzo.
Also, when there was an Asda decline during this period (if the request reached you, which is unclear not having experienced the decline personally) you could link to information about alternative methods eg. Apple Pay, or the No Means To Pay form, which petrol stations should issue you if you intended to pay but can’t do so for unexpected reasons, and gives you 24 hours to return with another form of payment to settle the bill.
You could do all of this without having to provide a running commentary on what is going on behind the scenes, as you were pressured to do on here due to the lack of any other information or guidance.
That is what I would expect from the bank of the future.
I’d be surprised if they don’t, as they only recently wrote their Mastercard processor, and were aware of these issues at the time.
Comments further upthread indicate the card was blocked before anything was sent to Monzo, so there was no way to detect an attempt from Monzo’s side. So this sort of notification wasn’t possible.
I absolutely approve of the new system. It would be nice if Monzo could give a bit more information on the decline, at the moment it just says £1 declined but doesn’t give a reason.
Other banks deal with this issue differently I think. When you’re opening account generally you’re credit assessed and if you don’t meet the criteria they want they’ll give you an account with no possibility of credit facilities and you simply cannot use your card at pay at pump at all. However if you have a normal account they’re happy to authorise the pay at pump even with a smal balance. Leaving it down to the banks makes more sense.
, I went to fill up as needed to but also just to confirm my PAP goosed ,so then went to a shell garage about 2miles away they didn’t have PAP as wanted to test it 
so now that I am 
missed that one, thanks.