Just went to a standard bank ATM. Halifax card no charge for ATM. Monzo card will result in a few. Why?
Monzo is meant to be my main bank account but getting hit with these sort of fees when competitors do not isnāt very attractive.
Hi all!
I have been looking into these Mastercard acceptance issues, and wanted to step in and shed some light on why I think this is happening.
Iām almost certain this is due to acquirers or payment gateways not updating their BIN (Bank Identification Number) tables regularly enough to recognise our cards. We have had this problem with a fair few merchants now.
The issue always seems to be the same - because they donāt recognise our BIN, either our card isnāt accepted at all, or their systems default to assuming itās a credit card, because itās on the Mastercard network.
The (slight) silver lining here is that this means the solution is always the same - work out where the issue lies, then badger the right people to update their BIN tables!
To help us do this, please send as much information as possible to customer support when your card mysteriously declines, or is recognised as a credit card.
Myself and the Payments Operations team will work through these reports, but reaching resolutions can take some time, so thanks for bearing with us!
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Hi Louis,
Thanks for the public update. I think you know Iāve already been working with Leah on this. Iāll continue my tour of SA ATMās so we can get it resolved for good!
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There are 5 major banks in South Africa. Absa, First National, Nedbank and Standard Bank all charge ZAR 50 per cash withdrawal, but Capitec donāt charge a penny (or a ZAR 1 cent).
Unfortunately havenāt had the āpositiveā experience others may have had.
Card not accepted by numerous places. Bit embarrassing!
Double transactions appearing on account summary. Monzo āholdingā the money. Not sure what that means ā¦
Unfortunately Monzo not responding to queries. Hence coming on here.
Not reliable unfortunately.
Other cards working perfectly well.
Rather use them to avoid the uncertainty of a Monzo transaction
Hi @tonydysart, Iāve moved your message here to keep all the South Africa info in one place.
Sorry that youāve had a bad experience - Monzo should work everywhere that MasterCard is accepted 
.
Do keep waiting in the in app chat, though. Monzoās a bit busy at the moment but they promise to get back to you asap.
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Although Monzo have now responded and dealt with the previous issues I proceeded to use the Monzo card on their instruction only for the exact same issue to arise.
Fairly significant payment taken from the Monzo but not received by shop.
Had to then pay with another card. Send this receipt to Monzo before getting the money back. It was dealt with but is a bit of an inconvenience.
Hope Monzo get it sorted
Did you manage to travel to Zim and win with your Monzo card?
Hi Lola
The old Monzo card worked fine in Zim and SA, but I only tried it in large hotels/restaurants. Most spending in Zim was in cash dollars that we took with us from UK. This was back in Feb 2017. Things may have changed in Zim.
The Current Account card has worked fine in other countries since then.
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Instep.
Thanks hope the trip was good. Was just wondering how big dark africa is working;)
Hi Louis!
In SA at the moment and still having the same issue with banks charging a fee for cash withdrawal (R50/R60) depending on the bank.
Is it still the same issue as you previously said with them not updating the BIN number?
Have reported the transactions
Thanks!
Hey! Thanks for reaching out about this. If the card works, it sounds like this may just be an ATM fee? Usually BIN acceptance results in the card not working at all.
Thanks for reporting these, the team will look into it 
Often found that the ATM would charge a fee for using monzo, but not a fee for Halifax or Starling. Seemed to suggest it was detecting your card differently to the others and then levying a fee.
Previous thread referred to Capitec as not charging a withdrawal fee. I can confirm that they do charge a R50 fee. now. Fees are displayed on SA ATMs before you confirm the withdrawal
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