New user with questions!

[MrG]

Received my card in good time and it all seems pretty cool and the app is brilliant but I have a few questions I was wondering if anyone could help me with.

1. Do I have to use my card so many times in a certain amount of time so it remains active (I know some pre paid cards require you to use the card so many times a month)

2. Would my account still be active if my balance ever went down to £0.00 ? Does my account require to be in credit to remain active?

3. I’m traveling to Spain soon and my hotel requires a €200 deposit which is refundable at the end of my stay and I’m hoping I can use my monzo card for this as they accept MasterCard. Can a refund be issued to my monzo account and how will the exchange rate work if so? Will I receive the exchange rate at the time I use my card or when I have the money refunded (if this makes sense)

Thanks!!

[alexs (Alex Sherwood)]

Welcome to the community

1. No. There’s no mention of cards deactivating in Monzo’s T’s & C’s
2. Yes & no - again, confirmed by the T’s & C’s
3. You can use your Monzo card for the deposit & it will accept the refund. I assume that the exchange rate will be based on the date when the refund settles but I’m not 100% sure…You can check Monzo’s conversion rate (they don’t add any fees on top), at any time here.

[mozzauk (Andy)]

Hi MrG,

My card has been down to zero a few times and it is still active.

in response to number 3, you will get the refund at the exchange rate applicable when the merchant processes the refund.

Cheers,
Andy

[Saul]

With regards to the exchange rate on refund (3) , exchange rate is always something to watch out for with refunds - it is possible to lose out when refunded due to a currency fluctuation for an item/service purchased in a foreign currency. As @alexs says, I think that the rate used for a refund is often based on when the refund settles. This can be particularly frustrating as a customer if you are getting a refund for faulty goods or services and you end up losing out.

It would be a tricky one to solve though - in some ways, one could argue that the Merchant should refund the required amount to credit the customer card the original transaction amount in their base currency but this would take some wrangling and some changing of terms with the Card Schemes.

If the goods/services were faulty, perhaps it would be possible to request a full base currency refund through section 75 if paid for by credit card or via chargeback if on debit card. In this sense, perhaps Visa/MasterCard should really be refunding the full base currency amount and taking the exchange risk themselves… interesting thought.

Perhaps an opportunity for improvement in the future!