šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø Monzo in the USA [Discussion]

I find that odd. I used to live in the US and would go months at a time with no cash. Same here.

Free for all ATMs are virtually unheard of.

If is free up to Ā£200 not $200. It is simpler that way than Monzo having a long list of separate limits in each currency/country

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Hi Emily!

I didnā€™t find any free ATMs whilst visiting the US. I understand the only time banks offer free withdrawals in the US are if you bank with them and use your card for that bank in the ATM.

Sorry I couldnā€™t be of much help!

Or if they are members of the same fee-free network (e.g. Co-op, Allpoint, MoneyPass, etc).

I have heard of free-for-all ATMs but theyā€™re rarer than unicorns. Iā€™m more surprised at the idea of needing cash to visit the US!

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Just back from Boston MA, only had one decline.

When processing a monzo card in Nautica retail stores, the card machine crashed every time on every till following a pin entry, tried selecting it as credit and debit card, and paying in both USD and GBP. Weird.

Under Armour double dipped, went through in once transaction, however shows as a withdrawal, refund then withdrawal all with the same time stamp.

Mag Stripe for MBTA worked perfectly 6 times consecutively, where all my family other cards failed (barclaycard, HSBC debit, HSBC credit, Santander, and another Visa). Annoyingly the MBTA doesnā€™t let you purchase more than once ticket at a time, being in a party of 6, i had to process 6 different tickets, in 6 different transactions every time i wanted to get the train.

Mag stipe in Delta airlines checkin machines worked for 5 transactions, then on the 6th failed.

Overall great job Monzo! MasterCard rate i was getting was better than any travel exchanges rate!

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What entry method was used?

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chip and pin? hopefully what you are meaning, i may have interpreted your question completely wrong though!

Entry method would be contactless (tap), contact (insert), magnetic stripe (swipe) or manual (keyed). Chip and PIN can be contactless or contact, but since contactless + PIN is virtually unheard of in the UK, Iā€™m guessing you mean contact, correct?

When was the credit/debit selection prompt offered in the transaction flow? Iā€™ve heard some recent reports of EMV terminals asking that, but they never should (since they can see thereā€™s only one AID). My guess is that this is a random artefact from how the US Common Debit AIDs work.

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Yeah Contact then! physical insertion into the slot and stabbing numbers the good old way (apparently new way in the US though)
I processed roughly 40 or so transactions in the two weeks i was there, the vast majority 25-30 odd asked for a selection of debit or credit, this was immediately after insertion of the card.
Then there were a further 5 or so which worked as i would expect in the UK. (insert card, type pin, press enter remove card, eat food)
Lastly there were the remainder of 10-15 or so transactions which used a contact chip and pin machine, but didnā€™t require the pin to be typed. literally just insert, remove and done. These machines were exactly the same as the others i used. Big square clunky things with advertisement touch screens, mag swipe at the top and card entry under the keypad at the bottom. The card isnā€™t inserted far enough to charge via mag stripe so is definitely charged via the chip but just doesnā€™t require the pin, or a signature or anything. I thought this strange but the cashier seemed to thing it was normal.

further to that, many of the machines by the same processor (im sure it was ingenico) didnā€™t work with any UK cards if you selected Debit, the transaction had to be processed as a Credit card to work with any non-US issued card.

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Ingenico is not a processor, they make terminals. Always select credit if asked, debit refers to US common debit routing.

Iā€™m shocked that has got so common for chip cardsā€¦ good programming should avoid this by seeing there is no US Common Debit AID on the card! Iā€™ve never seen this, but itā€™s been awhile since Iā€™ve been in the US, so this is actually a regressionā€¦ :frowning:

This is because PIN support is disabled in the EMV kernel used. Some stores (like Target) disable it only below a certain amount (dynamic kernel modification), others have it disabled entirely.

Completely normal, since PIN support is disabled.

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Thank you! Thatā€™s really helpful, Iā€™ll keep an eye out for them!

I meant Ā£200, thanks though!

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Thank you anyway, just wanted to check!

I am in the US now (Delaware) and am using Wells Fargo and Sun East Credit Union for free ATM withdrawals, I have used TD Bank and MT Bank for free previously but now they want a fee.
I just used a trial and error process, if i was passing an ATM I would try it and check the fees.

I also dont understand the cash preference, that is not my experience. I use the card everywhere. I only use cash for tips and fuel.

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What fuel have you found doesnā€™t accept cards?

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Maybe there are still crappy outdated terminals at pumps that have trouble with Monzo (as in EMV-enabled terminals but that would crash upon getting a :monzo: card, like some train ticket vending machines in the UK) ?

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fuel to stop large amount taken prior to a small amount of fuel and then long wait for refundā€¦that sort of scenario I guess

If thatā€™s a big deal to someone, though, they can always pay inside (some stations you may have to go in first, ask them to turn on the pump, then go back out and pump).

In some rare cases, they may refuse to turn on the pump without you pre-paying. If this happens, ask what they do if you over-pay. Iā€™ve never heard a place that refuses to refund the excess (but Iā€™d still check).

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I am going back to NYC next month and will be using the subway quite a lot. I noticed on the WIKI that someone said the Monzo card worked to buy a metrocard. Last time I was there it didnā€™t work but charged me (Monzo refunded me ofc). Can anyone else confirm that it now works? Has anyone else tried?Thanks