🇫🇷 Monzo in France [Wiki]

[Anarchist (Press ‘Help’ search ‘Contact us’ or email help@monzo.com or call 0800 802 1281)]

@SebH

You also don’t need to tell Monzo that you’re travelling, unlike traditional banks. However, there is always the risk with any bank that your card could be blocked

One tip I gleaned from Nationwide is you can ‘tell’ your bank you are going abroad by using Chip and PIN at the airport or ferry terminal. It could be a purchase, or a balance check at an ATM.

Why do ships go from a terminal, but planes go from a port?

[DaveJ (Dave)]

@SebH

. To reduce the chance of it happening, you can go to Settings and Privacy & Security > Location-based security, and toggle it on.

If you have an iPhone

[Abbeybensonx (Abbey benson)]

Also, do you know if there is limits with the card transactions?

[davidwalton (Award Winning Hot Coral Analyst)]

Hi Abbey & welcome

From ‘Home’, drag the transaction feed down to reveal the 4 icons under the card. Tap on the ‘Account’ icon, then scroll down & tap on ‘Limits and allowances’ - this will show you the total limits and also the remaining limits for your account.

Have fun in Nice!

[ysconhb (Jenny Linson)]

@alexbilbie

Look for the “Carte Blanche” or CB signs

Can I just ask, what is this?

[raverto]

Hey @Abbeybensonx, I was in France for around a year, and didn’t have any issues with using Monzo. I didn’t change my address as I kept my permanent address in the UK, and my card was never blocked. As far as I know there aren’t any limits on using your card, however there is a limit on cash withdrawals. Though, I barely withdrew any cash, as the vast majority of places accepted card (in my experience anyway). As mentioned by @SebH, if you do withdraw cash from cash machines make sure you withdraw in Euros and let Monzo do the conversion - so you don’t get ripped off. Nice is lovely, enjoy your time out there!

[SebH]

Hi @Abbeybensonx,

Sorry for the late reply, I hope you are having a nice time and Covid isn’t spoiling your trip.

To answer your question about limits, other than what @davidwalton has said, you can go to the Help tab in the app and search for the article “understanding your limits”. This explains how your limits work and has a link at the bottom with the blue button “See limits”, which takes you to the same page David was talking about.

Using Monzo for card transactions comes out of the main limit of £10,000 per day, and as long as you use your Monzo account enough (like paying your student loan into it) you will also have large enough cash machine limits of £400 per day. See the article here for more detail on that.

You don’t need to worry about the language around cash withdrawals abroad, as France is within the EEA. Therefore, when the articles mention “within the U.K. and the EEA”, this means it includes France - so you can withdraw just as much cash there as you can at home.

I hope this all makes sense and good luck with your trip!

[SEL1]

Carrefour petrol station still refusing cards and took £100 still waiting for a credit but saw previous threads stating can take 30 days!!!

[iamatree]

Hi- sorry this is my first time using Monzo forum so I hope I’m posting in the right place! I understand using my Monzo card in France won’t incur fees. I also read taking out money from the ATM (under a certain amount) won’t cost anything extra, but will I be taking out euros or pounds from the Frencgh ATM? Thanks in advance

[Peter_G]

Bonjour!

You’ll be taking out euros (because that’s what the ATM has) and Monzo will convert it into pounds.

There is an upper limit on free cash withdrawals though. Do check in the app before you go!

[PaulUK]

And watch out for any ATM charges imposed by the dispensing bank.

I never needed cash during my recent trip to Paris, however, I have no doubt that there will be some machines that may charge, just like there is in UK.

[iamatree]

Merci beaucoup!

[jzw95]

The one place it seems you need cash is if you take a taxi. Many of them don’t accept cards Also, when you’re at the ATM, many will offer to charge you in pounds and do the conversion for you. Do not do this. They charge high rates, much cheaper to select Euros and let Monzo do the conversion.

See the ultimate guide:

Dynamic Currency Conversion with examples - guide for travellers

Dynamic Currency Conversion, DCC - biggest enemy of any Monzonaut! Confusing screens , double negative questions , sometimes even three screen prompts to select DCC can really make it difficult for good Monzonaut to steer clear from DCC. I haven’t seen an example where ATM or POS with DCC offered better rate than Monzo (fees included). Even with planned ATM withdrawal fees, rule of thumb - Monzo is better and will be better because…

[DE18]

Monzo card didn’t work at the RER ticket machines at CDG airport. Worked everywhere else though.

[PaulUK]

Is that with chip & PIN?

I found that for RER ticket machines, contactless and Google Pay would not work, but card and PIN would.

[SebH]

That is also the case on some autoroute toll payment machines, parking machines and (I think) the Paris Metro.

It’s best to always have a physical card available just in case contactless doesn’t work.

[PaulUK]

@SebH

It’s best to always have a physical card available just in case contactless doesn’t work

I did Three in fact

[DE18]

I tried contactless with the card and chip and PIN but neither worked. My NatWest card worked on contactless.

[PaulUK]

My Barclaycard worked.

[SebH]

Interesting, it may have been a Mastercard acceptance issue rather than a country-specific one (like only U.K. cards not working).

I’d be interested to know if @DE18 tried an old NatWest Visa card or one of their newer Mastercards?