I use it in Muscat on a weekly basis as currently flying out there for every Mon-Fri!
Not had any issues with any retailers or ATMs as long as the funds are available except when I tried to do a Travelex purchase and they couldn’t validate due to no name being on the card (But Bank Muscat also issue cards with no name on it as well so we’re not alone there).
It even worked contactlessly at McDonalds in the new Avenues mall as well (not that the employee knew it was a contactless transaction!)
Used in Dubai for a week. Took little to no cash with me, just topped up via the app when I needed the money and withdrew from a cashpoint or paid via Card at the shops. All worked brilliantly.
Only tip I have is find the RAKBANK ATMs as they are free to use. All others seem to charge around 20AED per transaction. Download MasterCard Nearby app to check which ATMs around you can use and look out for ‘No Access Fee’.
If you have any questions about using the card in Dubai give me a shout!
Thanks for the tip. I am off to Dubai for a week next month. Just taking some 400AED in cash and rest on Monzo. Have a back up FairFX card and my UK HSBC card. Lets see!
Update: in Dubai right now. Used monzo several times at outlets malls restaurants shops etc. Worked like a treat. Didn’t work once at dubai mall at the Aquarium. Also haven’t tried atm withdrawal yet.
Been working in Dubai for 2 and a half months now. Monzo has worked great everywhere no problems cropped up except the downtime back in March (that wasn’t fun as I had no cash either!)
Used my Monzo card on a recent trip to Dubai. Worked everywhere including duty free at the airport, various malls, restaurants and a spa. I took little to no cash and used atms when needed. Only Mastercard ones do not charge else there is a 20 aed fee. The only time I wanted to use it was at the hotel for initial check in process but they wouldn’t accept a pre pay. Else amazing. Topped up when I needed it to over wifi. And great conversion rates on all purchases!
This was so helpful! Just got back from a week in Abu Dhabi and Monzo worked seamlessly. Managed to withdraw cash from a RAKBANK atm and used chip and pin everywhere without any issues.
Im looking to book a hotel in Dubai this year, the site im booking through gives me 2 options either to pay now or pay at the hotel. If I choose to pay at the hotel will they accept Monzo?
@Shauqat You need to find out if your hotel accepts prepaid card types. It should be somewhere in ‘Accepted payment methods’ or something section on their website. You can send an email with this question to hotel or call if this info is not listed on their website.
Monzo card that you have right now is a prepaid card (not debit, not credit). General acceptance of prepaid card types is high, but we don’t know what your hotel will do.
Hi @Shauqat, I’m afraid that answer still remains the same. If you have any concerns that hotel might not accept prepaid card type, you have to ask them directly. We (users) or Monzo has no knowledge and no way to figure out what particular hotel/shop/restaurant accepts. Sometimes there’s a clear remark that prepaid card is not accepted, but more often we don’t know. The only source of information is merchant directly.
There’s small chance that some other Monzo users has been in this hotel, but that would be quite lucky shot!
Thank you @Avishai for your reply, the reason I was asking the question was the hope that one of the users may have already used it or tried to use it at the Burj
We have just left the UAE as visited the east coast, Dubai and Abu dhabi. Monzo worked fine at all locations, even for ATM withdrawals at the Emirates NBD machine at Yas Mall. There was a 3GBP difference between the withdrawal and the xe currency rate at the time. I forgot about the MasterCard app.
Just arrived in Muscat. Will see what happens, due to the weak pound, it’s expensive as 1 OMR = 2 GBP, may have to use card rather than cash, unless am at the souk. Will update you as and when I can.
Surely this should be your default? What do you see as the advantage to withdrawing cash then paying with it, as opposed to just paying by card at the POS?
That is indeed true, if it was up to me, i would go cashless.
However, regardless if you are in the UK, Dubai Abu Dhabi or Oman, cash is also required in some places.
Taxi drivers in Abu Dhabi don’t always accept card and in Oman you still need to pay in cash for taxis. Dubai taxi drivers accept card payments.
So whilst it’s recommended to go cashless and monzo is good for that it doesn’t always work in every scenario, In the omani souk you can haggle better with cash than with card as another example.
I was in Dubai last week, and the Monzo card worked flawless…I withdrew cash from a small atm at a metro station, paid the entry fee to go into a private beach club, and paid a bar bill, also used it in a few shops, no problem at all…
As an update monzo works fine in Abu Dhabi… in some circumstances you can even pay for a taxi using your card. The exchange rate was 1 GBP = 5 dirhams in November. The FX rate at the malls was around 4.78 … the MasterCard spot rate would have been a few points higher.
Muscat on the other hand - cash is generally king. Just be mindful that the exchange rate in November was 1 OMR = 2GBP or there-abouts . Making Oman quite expensive if your home currency is GBP … Taxis are cash only … there was no problem in using the monzo (beta) card in any location. But those were mainly in the malls and at the airport. If you have a monzo current account linked card there shouldn’t be any problems.
As for a visit to an ATM in muscat we didn’t use use one to test. Going by experience use a bank of Oman machine for a better FX rate. We did use an ATM in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi both of which was Emirates NBD without problems.
We was in the region (Dubai; Abu Dhabi & muscat) in November if that helps using the beta card.
no problems cropped up except the downtime back in March (that wasn’t fun as I had no cash either!)
