Joined the waitlist and it was my turn to open an account today. Started the process but was told Monzo can’t offer me an account, as they only offer accounts in the UK, US and Ireland.
I wasn’t even asked for a country of residence, but I would have expected to be, as I reside within the EU.
I had a look at the terms and conditions, the terms of business, the FAQs and the fees docs and saw that Monzo Ireland do offer basic bank accounts. Interestingly, a condition is residence in Ireland, but as far as I know, under EU regs (transposed onto Irish law), banks within the EU must offer basic bank accounts to residents of the EU and cannot use residence as a reason to deny an account.
Can I check if this is correctly implemented? I would expect it to be given the Irish banking licence, or if I have perhaps missed something, I would appreciate some guidance as to how to finish applying for my account.
You are right in that under EU law, banks cannot reject residents purely based on residency as long as they are EU nationals. However, banks can reject if you don’t appear to have a “genuine interest” which would be something like working, studying or having property there. They can also tighten their requirements based on how their internal systems work (if they can’t verify a non-irish address for example). They also need to protect against Money-Laundering so they can add that restriction.
It looks like Monzo may use your IP to understand where you are located in the world, and if you are not in one of their supported countries when you try to sign up, you wouldn’t have a “genuine interest” so the request is blocked.
If they allowed French residents but not Spanish, then that would definitely be against EU law, but since this appears to reject anyone not in Ireland, they might be using loopholes.
Worth mentioning is that eligibility is not based on citizenship but rather residence. But I might be wrong.
Otherwise yes I understand and accept that. I wasn’t allowed to progress with my application after trying to change the country of residence.
at that point there have been no AML/KYC checks, I wasn’t asked to justify why I want an account in Ireland (with Monzo), I was simply told that I cannot get an account.
My expectation would be to be able to apply and be asked why I need/want an account in Ireland.
You may want or need to open a bank account in your home country or in another EU country.
If you are legally resident in an EU country you are entitled to open a “basic payment account”. Banks cannot refuse your application for a basic payment account just because you don’t live in the country where the bank is established.
I think there’s also a further nuance around that too, specifically that you only have a right to a basic bank account if you don’t already hold some form of bank account within the EU - or that you have been advised (and can show) that you do have one but have received notification it is to be closed.
I’m not sure how that works in practice of whether you must also be a resident of that country, or that you just have to be resident in the EU itself, by what’s posted above it seems you only have to be in the EU.
The key thing here I think, is the right only exists if you are already or going to be ‘unbanked’.
Also bear in mind that right now, Monzo can’t really be used as a substitute bank account anyway in Ireland
I mean irrespective of everything you’ve pointed out, I cannot even apply for the basic bank account with Monzo Ireland, which seems to go against the regulations in Ireland. I’ll pop Monzo an email to see what they say.
otherwise, on the points you’ve raised:
specifically that you only have a right to a basic bank account if you don’t already hold some form of bank account within the EU
I’ve not yet seen a EU wide blanket policy, but I’ve seen rules that you cannot have another account in the same country (i.e. accounts with two banks in Ireland - which wouldn’t affect me as I don’t have another Irish bank account any longer).
Even Monzo’s Terms and Conditions/of Business mention that they reserve the right to close basic bank accounts if you move outside of the EU. So something is there, but not quite where it should be
The key thing here I think, is the right only exists if you are already or going to be ‘unbanked’.
Or if you don’t qualify for another type of bank account, which usually covers people who don’t live in the country where the bank operates. I’ve had a KBC account a while back, which was a basic bank account as I didn’t reside in Ireland.
Also bear in mind that right now, Monzo can’t really be used as a substitute bank account anyway in Ireland
I saw they’re doing IBANs now (woo ), but this is a moot point, since they’re a fully fledged bank with an Irish license.
It’s funny, as my wife was coming to the UK from Poland (we had a visa and everything sorted) and she was rejected by Monzo, and according to support, she CAN’T open an account anymore, which is a joke. She was able to open Bank of Scotland and Starling without any issues.
I am a heavy Monzo user, and I wanted to have a proper joint account in Monzo. So far, we can’t. I am going to contact support again, but I have a feeling it will be a waste of time (again).
I wonder (as a UK person) if a Monzo Ireland account would actually count as a “basic payment account” (which appears to be defined as a “stripped-down regular payments account that usually does not include a credit card, savings, loans, or overdraft facilities”) as they may be planning on offering savings, loans and overdraft facilities. If it doesn’t come under that classification then I /think/ it is exempt - especially since Monzo could argue they are still in the testing phase.
), but this is a moot point, since they’re a fully fledged bank with an Irish license.