Monzo has refused a change of name deed poll - twice through the system flow and now through the chat. I’ve escalated this to the formal complaint level but it’s just so sad to see.
Monzo used to be very respectful of peoples’ identities. Now, they’re addressing me by the previous name I’ve used multiple times even after I’ve told them my new one (very personal reasons to change names a second time so this matters to me) and they’re refusing a deed poll based on requirements that have no legal backing.
They now want a deed poll to either be enrolled (a legal process not required and strongly advisable against since it means forevermore you have no privacy as it creates a public record) or, if unenrolled, it should be either handwritten or stamped by a solicitor.
Yes, someone at Monzo has seriously decided a deed poll has more legal meaning if it is handwritten. This is laughably untrue and serves no purpose at all.
A few years ago Monzo were partnering with MasterCard on True Name. I marched in London Pride with some of the Monzo staff. What happened to this company that they decided to introduce new nonsense requirements with no legal basis?
It appears to not be the case. I asked them to at least update my preferred name for now and they refused as eden wasn’t a nickname for my previous name with a connection they recognized.
This also means that Mastercard should remove Monzo from their True Name list. I wonder how the best way to let Mastercard know about this would be?
Additionally, I’ve tried multiple agents and escalations so this definitely seems to be policy, not a misinformed agent.
This sounds worthy of raising a complaint for. If the passport office don’t need a handwritten enrolled deed poll, Monzo certainly shouldn’t.
As Monzo requires Photo ID to open an account, have you considered updating that first, then requesting the change with the ID as the evidence instead?
Some companies require proof that the name requested is actually being used for formal things.
They have said a photo ID would be accepted so I will provide that once I have it. That takes longer. The last time Monzo was the easiest thing to update
Have done. I’m also going to reach out to Mastercard to see if I can get them to remove Monzo from their True Name partner list since I asked them to at least change my preferred name for now and they also refused this.
That one (True Name) isn’t even about agreement it’s about whether they meet the requirements for a Mastercard initiative they are benefitting from the marketing value of claiming to support.
I will do so. I’ve already complained to Monzo. Mastercard will come later. This evening likely. Waiting to see if someone from Monzo intervenes today.
Yee, it definitely appears to be policy level enough based on the sheer number of identical responses from different agents that I’m not hopeful but maybe at the least they’ll get someone on Monzo’s legal team to tell them that an unenrolled deed poll does not need to be handwritten or stamped by a solicitor.
Somehow they have managed to make this experience even worse - they used my previous name to address me in the initial response to my complaint!
Does anyone have any connections at Mastercard who can get Monzo removed from their True Name list? It clearly isn’t true anymore and they shouldn’t be getting marketing credit for this.
I was a huge Monzo fan a few years ago, so seeing this is where they are now on how they treat people is just really sad.
It really is a major change that’s pretty indefensible. The policy is silly and not based on law but even worse is continuing to address a customer a way they’ve asked to change cause that’s just basic human respect.
When I opened the Monzo App today there was a chat message acknowledging not accepting the deed poll was “an error on our part” - very surprising it could be an error since so many said the same but hopefully they’ll do some staff retraining.
One thing worth remembering is The Data Protection Act (2018) means organisations must ensure the information they store is " accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date" ( Data protection: The Data Protection Act - GOV.UK ) . When I had problems with a name change with Halifax many years back, I made a complaint to their Data Controller (see Your right to get your data corrected | ICO ) stating that they were holding incorrect information and had 30 days to correct it.
The only problem I had with my name change was renewing my non-UK passport - I “just” had to find a local Notary, hand over £100+vat (2017 rates) for them to verify the deed poll+signature was authentic. No public record kept (I believe the notary society does keep them though) and that was it.
Different people but they have been reading the same ticket history presumably. Given this was the point of the ticket I think if their reasoning was that they hadn’t read the ticket they’d have little to stand on. And given most of them gave no apology for how they addressed me when corrected I’d guess they at least didn’t care.
If there is one thing to learn about Monzo support is that it’s clear they either don’t have previous chat history or they never look at it, because it’s very very common for someone to have to basically explain themselves again and again.
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