Brand new to monzo. Some things I’d like to prepare myself for before I get going.
I understand, I think, about off-line transactions and that you will only put the transaction in the app when you get notified of the actual payment (certificate?).
Is there notification prominent notification in the app and if that (relatively unexpected) transaction takes you overdrawn but you have no overdraft arrangement how intrusive and repetitive are the reminders that you need to put money in that day? If you don’t, is the consequential overdraft charged at the arranged overdraft rate or much higher? How much?
If a merchant takes an authorization incorrectly or oddly but ultimately it’s not going to take the money, then with a normal bank the payment is not visible (with a few banks it is in some interfaces) and it impacts the available balance, but you are not allowed to dispute it and you just have to wait for the code to fall off, this is normally 7 days (so for the learning disabled and vulnerable who often run an account close to zero these odd merchant activities can prevent them from using funds in a way that most people never notice) but the auth code is still valid so the merchant could still use it in a “surprise” transaction up to 6 months later (and not necessarily taking you overdrawn directly, but later).
How does monzo behave in the above cases. What and what quality of alerts might alert one to all of the above. How can a support worker of a disabled person get visibility to support the card holder in these cases?
With these kinds of clients I find that banks will often allow for example 5 non-critical payments of £10 to clear getting a £50 unauthorized overdraft but then when the support worker applies a credit of £50 for a critical transaction, the bank will decline the disabled person’s £50 transaction, however the bank cannot tell you what the rules are for what they let through and what they do not, so you are often faced with putting in twice as much money for every critical purchase. Staff often say this account cannot go overdrawn, but then in practice do not decline many online transactions. For an account that really cannot go overdrawn they provide a £50 buffer (overdraft, duh!) and charge £10 pcm but you have to put £500 in the account every month. This makes no sense, preventing overdrafts is generally for people who will spend down until the card doesn’t work any more, so the £500 is a bad idea. I really find it hard to understand the whole banking system to be honest. In an age where you can buy and sell shares around the world is a second it seems hugely antiquated, why is this?
Could monzo do better in the above cases? What is good about monzo for the learning disabled?
Sorry this has been a bit of a ramble. Hope it makes sense.
This shouldn’t really be an issues because a) you can go overdrawn by up to £20 before you’re charged, if you have an overdraft b) there’s relatively few merchants who can complete offline transactions & when they do, they’re generally low value e.g. TFL’s charges for a day’s worth of travel. A hotel bill would be more expensive but hopefully you won’t forget that, that’s due to be charged..
we’ll notify you through the app and give you at least until midnight of that day to clear it. If you don’t clear it, we’ll just treat it like the normal overdraft and you’ll be charged 50p/day. This will also be reported to credit reference agencies.
You can contact the support team & in my experience, they’ll reverse the authorisation for you straight away. However I wouldn’t assume that, that will be possible in every situation. This hasn’t come up often for me & I’ve had a current account for almost a year.
Assuming you have an internet connection, you’ll receive a notification every time you make a transaction.
As far as I know, they can’t at the moment I’m afraid, unless they have access to the disabled person’s account via their app. Or perhaps they could use the API, if they have access to the person’s email account & were relatively good with tech.
Users can export their transaction history too.
Monzo account’s can only accidentally go overdrawn because of offline transactions.
Monzo doesn’t have any functionality that’s specifically designed for the learning disabled. They’re working on functionality that’s primarily intended to help users with mental health conditions, which are due to be released later this year.
In general though, one of the biggest benefits of Monzo’s service is that it gives users greater control over their finances. They also put a lot of effort into keeping the app’s design as simple as possible so you should find that it’s far easier to use than the incumbent’s apps.
I hope my answers are clear enough for you, let me know if you need any further clarification!
Unexpectedly overdrawn
This is super rare with us. We do allow some (offline as you stated) transactions to go through, but you would usually be aware of these.
There is a buffer of £20 for which you don’t get charged.
If you somehow manage to go below £20 negative, if you top up the same day then nothing more will be done by us.
If you don’t top up, we will pro-actively get in contact with you (if you already haven’t) to ask why this is the case, what we can do to help, and when you expect to bring your balance back to a positive balance. This is a very general overview, we have specialist members of staff for this.
All charges within the overdraft structure are the same, whether this is arranged or not. As @alexs linked to the blog post, this is 50p per day.
There are no usage fees/charges.
Incorrectly applied transactions
You seem aware that we present the transaction as soon as this is authorised at the till. This is called an “authorisation”. This is what affects your available balance with any bank. You just know with us who currently has a claim on that money.
If you ever come across a transaction that was unsuccessful, or a holding deposit that should have been returned, always feel free to contact Customer Operations! In most cases we will reverse the authorisation after establishing a couple of facts and usually getting a copy of the receipt.
We will always let you know that the merchant could still collect when we reverse an authorisation. This is not a refund of the money at this point. We let you know the next steps if they do go on to collect it.
Support
If a customer is ever in a position where they need help managing their finances, in part or in whole we always want to know how we can help. We would encourage anyone to let us know what is going on and then we can ensure we act appropriately moving forward. Authority is always a must as this is secure financial data.
Generally about the overdraft
We will always decline payments when there is not enough of a balance to cover the authorisation amount. (Unless you have an agreed overdraft in place). We can even look at the status of lending etc on an individuals account. Again, I would encourage contact in the app for any individual clarification.
General management :mondo:
Something I did want to point out in regards to notifications and money on the account. If I have a Direct Debit due tomorrow, and my available balance doesn’t cover it, I would receive a notification telling me I need to increase my balance. I think it’s the little things like this that we have to prompt customers that can make a big difference.
(I’ve actually received a notification of this manner before )
Can the same account have two cards for two people?
I’m looking for ways one could support someone with a learning disability. BTW a lot of learning disabilities will have an impact on behavior and so it’s possible your work supporting mental health in your app sounds like it may have some cross over. However, while I understand the security issues unless there is a way to get the support worker visibility to support the person, the support will always be limited. Ordinary banks provide this to a degree, but then they are poor at providing the account holder with more control management and visibility.
I’m having a hard time understanding why in 2018 these kinds of things overall are so difficult for banks or in the case of joint access, for you.
I think all of these questions have been answered in other posts on the forum Search button top right will reveal all
But:
Yep, they’re full bank accounts (current accounts) with a Mastercard Debit Card, FSCS protection of £85k, sort code and bank account number - the whole 9 yards
Not yet, this may or may not change in the future
Nope, not something Monzo support.
Monzo are all-inclusive so I’m sure they’re doing everything in their power to help out with matters such as these
Logging in on multiple devices is not something we support, but there is success when one device is Android, and one is iPhone.
Are these bank accounts yet or not really?
Full bank accounts! We no longer offer the prepaid programme.
Can the account be joint?
They can’t right now, it’s on our roadmap and we’re also looking at joint pots. Watch this space
Can the same account have two cards for two people?
No, it can’t.
We really want to progress in how finances are handled so anything that you think would help our customers that are more in need, please suggest! Money management and advice should not be for just the wealthy. I’m of the personal opinion it should be far more available for those in vulnerable positions.
I agree right now it’s difficult, especially as a support worker or someone who has poor impulse control. I used to work in debt recovery so I know the huge link between mental health and debt. As well as any other number of vulnerabilities that people cannot control.
Please, don’t apologise! Ideas are good, and definitely welcome.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, I really do appreciate it.
what is the right outside estimated schedule for joint accounts (and therefore a card each I presume) (and pots). < 6 months, < 1 year, < 2 years? Or is it a hope with significant risk not to come?
is there any third party personal finance software linked to monzo or is Monzo planning to extend their software? For example to record upcoming regular payments, custom categories, enter your own dummy/anticipated transactions for balance sheet budgeting etc etc.
Joint accounts / pots are currently long term. We don’t have a timeline just yet but we would love to offer them in the future.
Emma, as @jzw95 advised can link to us as an aggregator. It updates in pretty much real time. We have the open banking API so as more companies adapt to this we should have a stronger presence in aggregators.
We are also in the midst of revamping our Spending tab. This will include forecasting bills and advising how you’re doing with money.
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