Offline Monzo Banking? (what to do in case of emergency)

I’ve been doing some thinking and still trying my best to go gradually go full Monzo.

Still waiting on Monzo Apple Pay and the other thing I was wondering about is:

What would happen if for example my Monzo app completely stopped working or my phone broke and I had no internet access.

Is there any way I can do telephone banking in such an emergency?

Say I was stranded abroad and all the money I had was locked away in pots, are you guys working on some kind of web app or some emergency way of getting in contact? I feel like the peace of mind alone would be worth it although perhaps it’s just me that would like something like this.

Open to any input :slight_smile:

I think that should be possible by calling the number on the back of your card… or emailing support…

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Ah! I never noticed the number on the back, Thanks! I’m just wondering whether if I called them they would be able to (for example) transfer money from my pot to my card over the phone, provided I somehow verified that it was me calling.

As long as they can verify it’s you I don’t see why they can’t do most things, the telephone number is for the type of situation you mentioned above

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I don’t know if it’s a given but traditional banks are bogged down in loads of security protocol but hopefully Monzo is a bit different :slight_smile:

They can remotely log you out of the app if your phone is lost/stolen. Not sure if they can do transfers from pots

Ok physically they could but not sure if there’s a procedure

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We are able to do this in certain cirumstances :+1:

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I know #fullMonzo is a catchy campaign, but you’re really best travelling with a credit card for this very reason.

If the absolute worst were to happen, get home using your credit card and sort it all out in the UK. I can’t recommend enough using Monzo and other fee–free debit cards day–to–day abroad, but it’s never a good idea to travel with only one source of funding.

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I couldn’t underline this enough! Just recently while I was abroad my main card was blocked because of fraudulent use. I was grateful for having a second card because it really didn’t bother me in the slightest. I just kept on spending and when I got home my replacement card was waiting for me, and I dealt with the headache of updating amazon et al with my new card details then. (Yes, that did bother me. Immensely. But it didn’t interfere with my holiday!) Had I not had a second card with me it would’ve cause some very serious inconvenience to me.

Long story short: NEVER leave your home country with only one card. Take AT LEAST two.

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And try and keep a Visa/MasterCard mix in case either processor has a problem

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100% good advice. Except I would omit the word ‘country.’

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Indeed. I hear good things about the barclaycard travel credit card. It’s a visa card that has free foreign transactions which is rare (most FX credit cards are mastercard).

True! And I don’t. But when you are in your home country it’s usually possible to get around this sort of problem a bit more easily, then when you are abroad.

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I use Monzo as my primary card abroad with my Nationwide Visa credit card as back up.

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Oh yeah. They have a weird fee structure, don’t they? You get 20% of your monthly domestic spend as a “free” monthly FX allowance, or something like that, I believe? Very confusing …

I take Halifax Clarity as main card, then Starling, Monzo, Revolut and my Nationwide FlexPlus (free ATM, but purchases cost money - I wonder what’s the logic behind this?!) as backups.

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I’ve always considered #fullmonzo :rocket: to refer to Monzo as your principle current account.

I agree with others here - use a variety of financial service providers, current accounts, credit cards etc. It’s safer/more effective that way.

But that shouldn’t stop you from going #fullmonzo as your primary account. Maybe in the future we can call it your financial control centre? :wink:

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If you have a Nationwide current account, then the Select credit card is simple. Basically Halifax Clarity but on Visa.

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Oh, I didn’t know that one. Minor difference to the Halifax Clarity, though: A 2.5% ATM fee. No such thing with the Halifax Clarity. But I’m guessing it’s certainly more than good enough for “backup” purposes.

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Ah ha,

I didn’t realise that Clarity was free free at ATMs. Only for withdrawals abroad, or in the UK, too?

I believe there is a charge for cash advances in the UK, but I’m not sure, as I’d never use my credit card for ATM withdrawals in the UK.

To clarify “free”: There is no fee when withdrawing abroad, but interest is due from the date of the transaction, so you’d usually end up paying something, unless you pay off any ATM withdrawals immediately.

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Thanks for all the advice, to clarify, I do travel with a stupid amount of cards when i’m abroad but of course consolidating as many cards into one is kind of the dream for me… so as much as I can reduce that the better.

My main point here was just if Monzo had some kind of emergency service where for example even if I left the house in London without access to my phone and I was in a pickle, there would be some way for me to transfer money to my card. Something banks like Natwest allow over the phone if necessary. Would just make Monzo becoming my primary current account more feasible because obviously with normal retail banks one can even go into the branch and sort things out there, so knowing I can rely on a phone number for emergencies is good to know :slight_smile:

anyway, thanks for all the tips!

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