€1.87 is quite good. I paid £1.99 to withdraw £10 in London!
WHY?!
2 Likes
The two times I’ve been to Spain, I haven’t received the welcome message from Monzo and the after the first time (I’m in Spain currently) I never received a summary at the end of the trip. It’s a bit strange… It all worked in Germany the other day, but not Spain 
Arrived in Spain today and received the message as soon as I landed! No issues so far 
1 Like
You also get the welcome home message when you enter Gibraltar 
3 Likes
Do we know why our cards don’t work with toll roads yet? Is this something Monzo can fix or is likely to fix?
I am traveling to … Any difference in using monzo?
In Spain the shopkeepers try and select sterling.they are so quick . You have to tell them no. … Then select local currency…
Also worth getting a receipt for high payments as its common issue for billing in Sterling even after they have pressed ‘Pay in Euro’ etc
Spain used to be such a nice country … Just seems that they try and take everything from you … If it ain’t the pickpockets in Barcelona and Madrid then it’s them getting commission on the sterling rather than the local currency euros…
If you pay by card at a Spanish train station using their machines it doesn’t ask if its local or sterling … It just automatically goes through as local currency euros … THAT IS THE WAY THAT ALL TRANSFUSIONS SHOULD BE IN SPAIN. No options no shopkeepers trying to make you select sterling
3 Likes
This is an extremely interesting point! The problem arises in Spain because the Merchant is often paid an extra commission for using the DCC option. Simple and effective prevention is to say clearly as you hand over the Card “if there is an option to pay, I will pay in Euros … has entendido?” Then smile!! This is tried and tested, and it works so good luck everybody.
Sometimes in supermarkets, the cashier presses the “pay in Euros” option before my card is presented, which is awfully nice of them.
Smaller shops and cafes, on the other hand, will often do the opposite. I just have to refuse to pay till they change it
DCC roll out is pretty crappy in Spain in general. When I last used one of my Canadian cards in Spain, I was given the option of USD or EUR 
I’d never come across that anywhere else in the world. Even the cashier was confused (It was clearly a Canadian card, it had Royal Bank of Canada across the front).
It’s actually one of the few advantages of having a chip and signature or swipe card. If a merchant refuses to change it to the home currency, you can just cross out the DCCed amount, sign it and then it’s an easy dispute with the card issuer. You’re basically out of luck with a PIN card. This is especially in useful in some countries where there isn’t even an option to choose the home currency.
1 Like
It’s just standard practise that DCC gives merchants an extra commission, otherwise there would be no point in possibly antagonizing costumers with what most would consider hidden fees
1 Like
Of course ! Worked wonderful the exchange was accurate!
January 2019 and it would appear that the automatic tolls will still not take payments from the Monzo card. It was OK when the payment was manually taken by an operative in the Toll plaza. This was highlighted in a post on this topic a year ago but still not resolved. Is there anyone out there with an explanation?
1 Like
In Madrid right now
Situation seems rather more mixed here as to card use
Lots of places take cards, but pretty much only Primark and one other place, maybe DIA, worked as I would expect - tap card and done
In lots of places regardless of value I tapped and then had to enter my “numero secreto”
Sometimes this was accompanied by a DCC prompt, sometimes not
In Zara of all places I had to do contactless plus PIN plus tell them to use Euros plus sign their receipt to acknowledge the choice
Sakes
Does make you appreciate UK banking sometimes
When contactless first became available in Spain it was just like the UK. Tap and PIN is certainly becoming much more common. Speaking to someone who had a Spanish card last time I was there, she’d never done tap and PIN. I got the impression it was a foreign card thing.
1 Like
Maybe so. Was the impression I got, but again totally anecdotal
The terminal in Primark looks exactly like the one back in the UK, so I imagine that partly explains the similarity. Can understand why they would press for commonality on open first store here