Hey guys,
New here so correct me if Iām wrong, but I couldnāt see a thread for Jamaica on here yet.
Iām excited to use my new card in Jamaica when I go at the end of the month and just wondered if anyone had any experience there that they could share?
Thank you
Gabby
Hi Gabby,
Not used it before but Iām off to Jamaica on 25th January. Staying at an all inclusive so not expecting to use the card much but will let you know if I do.
Donāt forget you need to scan in your passport before you can use the card abroad.
Kevin
Hi Kevin. You mentioned scanning your passport before using card abroad. Explain this to me please?
Monty
You need to have a fully verified account before you can use your card in ATMs abroad. This means having your ID seen and approved by Monzo
Thanks for the reply. I find it frustrating that this is not mentioned anywhere else. In the FAQs monzo even goes so far as to say that itās not even necessary to inform them before travelling. Why couldnāt this āminorā detail be included?
It is mentioned in the terms and conditions section
3.2 āOnce basic personal information has been provided, the card may be loaded and used. This is subject to strict limits until we have verified your identity. We may require further information as set out in condition 16. Once these checks are passed, further limits apply.ā
and
3.9. āIf you have been issued with a simplified due diligence card or limited features card then you may only use this at ATM machines in the UK and at retailers within Europe.ā
The card is currently in Beta and most available resources are currently being diverted to getting the full current accounts up and running. They are aware of the limitations of the current draft FAQ and and working on the production of a new FAQ, which will obviously be intended for use with the new current account rather than the prepaid card.
Hey @soldier1000,
I think we can definitely work on making these details clearer to our users and we will do! Iām going to look over FAQs and our Help page in coming weeks to see how we can provide details in a more organised way.
In regards to the verification, if you need further help with that - please let me know!
Hi,
Thanks for the messages - these are really helpful!
I agree that it should be clearer that verification may be needed however
it sounds as though this may only apply to older cards and actually the
majority may not need to worry? I got mine recently and following the
messages on here I contacted help using the in app chat to check if this
was genuine. They confirmed to me it wasnāt necessary as my account was
already fully verified. A huge relief, as I fly next Sunday!
Maybe it would be helpful if it was easier to check the status of your own
account, or to clarify on site who would need verification and who wouldnāt
to go abroad. I must admit, my āfraud and securityā alarm bells started
ringing when I got a message telling me I needed to scan in my passport,
when I hadnāt heard anything about this from Monzo themselves. I can also
see how it is *technically *included in the Ts&Cs, however for a user point
of view this feels more like a cover in case anything goes wrong or
verification is needed, and doesnāt actually have any useful information
for the card user actually telling them what this means for them in plain
English.
Tapas who responded to me using the in app chat was incredibly helpful and
personable, even giving me 4 extra tips for using Monzo abroad and wished
me a great trip which was a lovely touch. Please feel free to pass this
feedback on to him if possible!
Generally I have been hugely impressed with my card since I started using
it and canāt wait to get a couple of the upcoming features on the Android
app
Thanks to all of you for your responses and your help 
Gabby
Just a quick update to say card worked in Jamaica without a problem.
Also my sister is going to use card abroad and doesnāt need to verify as I did.
Contacted Monzo help and they said only some users would need to verify depending on info they had.
Sorry for the length of time itās taken me to post since I went away, I got my Monzo pre-paid card just before flying to Jamaica and used it instead of my debit card while away.
The main point is that my card worked with every retailer and cash point I tried so had no problems at all!
We found Monzo invaluable while we were out there as we didnāt have to carry lots of cash around and keep visiting cash points. Obviously we did have to pay local businesses who donāt accept card with cash, and did need cash for tips but we used my Monzo card to get cash out in local currency to avoid big fees.
Previously we have always tried to take the total money for the trip in cash and take a debit/credit card for emergencies, but have always been worried about using them due to unknown fees and rates. We both got paid while away this time round so decided to book some extra trips while we were there which would have wiped out our cash. Rather than having to worry about how to transfer money across to the right person and trying to sort out withdrawing larger amounts of cash we could simply use the Wifi in the hotel to top-up my pre-paid card from either mine or my partnerās debit card and use that to pay for the trips and any other spending.
Iāve always found it hard to keep on top of what Iām spending while Iām away due to exchange rates and delays in money showing (being discalculate and unable to do maths on the spot doesnāt help either 
), and get hit hard when I get home and it all updates! Having instant visibility of what in Ā£ has been taken off my balance I knew exactly what I had left to spend and it also gave me the USD amount underneath each transaction too.
I have recommended Monzo to people I know who travel a lot after my experience in Jamaica and they have singed up for these benefits alone, with the day to day features being an added bonus!
I hope anyone else here who visits this incredible island has an amazing time and find it as easy with their Monzo as I did with mine!
Happy to try and answer any other questions about my trip and using the card abroad.
Gabby
Just back from Jamaica, can second that Monzo worked perfectly
Even managed to pay for a scuba course in a little shack, the hot coral got me down to the coral!
Hi there, has anyone used their Monzo card in Jamaica? Just checking whether there are any issues that I need to pre-empt
Hey @altheasym 
,
Hope you donāt mind but Iāve moved your post here to a previous discussion using Monzo in Jamaica 
.
Hopefully any questions you have can be answered by the posts above.
I hope you have a nice time! How long are you going for? 
ļø 
Edit: one thing to remember is a lot of these older posts weāre likely form when the prepaid card was still around. Now the current account is in full swing acceptance issues should be less again.
Thank you Jack,
No problem.
Iām going for 2 weeks
Iāll have cash but just want my card as a backup x
Has anyone recently used their card in Jamaica
not recently , but this thread had some replies regarding the pre paid card some years ago , no reason for it not to be OK now its a Current Account card
Monzo works fine in Jamaica, Iāve even used it to pay for bills/payments (I used to live there) online there.
Hi Odette, just wanted to ask did the exchange rates go through automatically when you landed in Jamaica as I plan on using my card only to make payments whilst out there. I look forward to your response.
CartĆØlea
Itās automatic on Monzoās end. Youāll get the best rate from MasterCard.
When youāre paying, if youāre promoted by the machine or merchant make sure to select paying in the local currency and not in Ā£ās otherwise youāll get a poor exchange rate.
Hi! Yes as soon as you get there you can use your card as usual and see the conversation in real time. The first time you use your card Monzo will tell you the exchange rate for JMD - as it does for each new currency you use!