Interesting, I had no deed poll issues at all. Happily accepted by everyone, including HM Passport Office, DVLA, all banks, employer, council (for electoral roll), US Embassy, etc. No issues.
Best of luck to her!
I just noticed this… UK driving licences don’t expire until you’re rather old. The photocard does, but the licence itself doesn’t. I think the best route may be to apply to DVLA for a new photocard, reporting the change of name deed just as if it had just happened.
The biggest issue has been HMRC, we’ve spent months trying to get her verified so she can file her tax return before the end of this month, we finally managed it last week after a silly expensive phone call to a random number they gave us to get a special activation code for Self Assessment (around £1 a minute 
).
That’s the route we’ve been advised to take, I’m hoping it all goes through okay!
Good luck, it should be easy! DVLA was probably the most painless change of all. And she’ll have a valid driving licence!
Also, if she’s a British Citizen, I suggest getting a new passport. It’s a little pricey, but if she can afford it, everyone really should have a passport. HMPO is actually pretty easy also - just note she has to change any foreign passports she has first.
Thanks 
Yeah she’s a British Citizen. She hasn’t had a passport before, but hopefully if we get the driving license sorted first, the passport process should then be nice and easy.
No problem and good luck 
The driving licence should have nothing to do with it, actually, and both can be done at the same time. She’ll just need the documentation needed for any first adult passport application, plus her deed poll. Should be very easy, actually, and save so much hassle in future.
The only passport thing that could be an issue, depending on her circumstances, is the countersignatory requirement. For most people, it’s easy… I found it a bit of a pain, but not awful.
Been a user since Alpha and just seen that Prepaid programme is being shut down. I cannot access the app on my iPhone 6S. Just keeps crashing. Is there another way to upgrade?
even if you use only the same functionality and nothing else that is added, the reason why they make you agree to the change is previously your money was held by wirecard in an emoney regulated account and now it is held by monzo bank in an account regulated by different rules and regulations. It is a legal or contractual need to do so, not because monzo forcing you into anything.
In that case if you are an adult they sometimes will call you in for an interview if you have not had a passport before, and take biometrics like a digital photo and digital signature. Having a DVLA or DVLNI photocard driving license and NINO makes the random interview less likely.
It’s definitely not a cult (or is it…) and you’re entitled to your opinion on whether you want to move to the CA or not.
What a lot of people (me included) are trying to understand is what the difference is for people who do not want to move over to the CA.
So, are you concerned about overdrafts? You won’t be enrolled into one unless you apply for it. There will be no charges for bouncing payments when your balance is too low. Are you concerned about having more than one account? Are you concerned about fees being introduced later down the line? The list goes on.
Monzo themselves did make it clear from the beginining that the move from Prepaid to Current Account was their plan
I joined Monzo BECAUSE of the prepaid card aspect of it, great to top up and use it as cash alternative. There was nothing like that before (as far as I knew) so I love it. If they upgrade it will become just as the other accounts and cards… not gonna be special. I already have a bank account and since I’m self employed I need a business bank account so I wouldn’t be able to have my salary sent to Monzo coz I have no salary… so I don’t need the new functions. This upgrade doesn’t make me excited coz you’re offering something I already have and then trying to take away the top-up thing, something that I don’t have and got really excited about. Not sure how others feel but if the top-up function won’t be available there won’t be any reason why I would stay with Monzo…
The top up function is available with the debit card. You can also pay in using a bank sort code and account number.
So does that ease your mind enough to apply for the debit card?
Will the current top-up function be available? Coz I already set that up in the beginning and setting up a new way of topping up is another hassle… I don’t want to complain but sometimes (most of the time actually…) for us entrepreneurs even minutes are precious…
They won’t be taking away the top up thing. I think perhaps Monzo need to do a separate blog post specifically addressing the concerns raised here. They seem to be in summary:
If you just want to use your monzo card as you did in the past, you should consider just upgrading it, the effect on someone’s credit score is minimal (it may even help you), you can ignore the current account stuff if you want and just keep using it as you did before. The top up function will still be available. If you want a travel card, it still has great rates for any purchases abroad and up to 200 cash per month abroad, so it’s pretty good but there might be better options for that if you travel a lot.
For Monzo, the why of this move is quite simple - they want to stop depending on another card processor that could go down anytime, and Monzo gets the blame, they need to cut all the costs and support headaches associated with having two separate systems running, and they need to be able to move quickly on new ideas. None of that is possible while supporting third party prepaid cards.
So there’s no chance they’ll want to keep on with a separate prepaid card, but if that’s all you want, the new Monzo card has you covered, it can function exactly the same from a user point of view, with top ups, limited spending and linking with the app, the only big difference is it is backed by a current account. You don’t need to use the new features (bank transfers, direct debits, overdraft), and it’ll still function as a secondary account. There is no obligation to pay in your salary, switch direct debits or close your old accounts.
Yes 
We’ve only added features!
I have a bigger issue with this.
The whole reason for initial sign-up was based around cheap foreign spending (spot FX rates, no ATM charges or punitive transaction levies etc etc). This was nothing new - Supercard was already doing it and doing it well, albeit at a loss, which as you’ve found, goes with the territory…
So once you’ve suckered everyone in with your own loss-leading Supercard copy and have built a subscriber base, you then move the goalposts, firstly on transaction costs and then on the operational side.
Some people may not want another bank account - Anyone with an ounce of common sense can budget their expenditure without the need for gimmicky non-interest bearing cyber pots etc.
You’ve burned your USP and now Halifax Clarity / Barclays Travel Card etc have now stepped-up.
So what next? Shoving affiliate partner offers down our throats to help cover the burn?
Ok - I get you probably never wanted this to be your core business and the app and UI are decent enough but why not tell it how it is from the start? - This whole trying to make it cool thing is only gonna get you so far.
Aggregation / financial consolidation (again, nothing new in the finance world) are a great idea if you have the depth of product and correct partners and interface etc but I for one am sceptical about what you can achieve, particularly as you’re effectively railroading customers into something which has very little value added…
Hi. I personally signed up for Monzo as it was a good product for traveling. Anonymous (no name printed on the card), not linked to savings account containing most of my money (only ever having spending money on the card), ability to get push notifications instantly. This was a good and compelling use case for me.
I understand that Monzo wants to become a full fledged bank so wants to move all of its customers to current accounts. That’s business decision which makes sense. But cancelling prepaid cards abruptly seems bad to me. Can’t you just leave the existing prepaid card customers who don’t upgrade to current accounts able to use their cards until expiry date?
E.g. if it says my Monzo card expires on January 2020, why not let it stay active & working the full period of time advertised on the front of the card? You are not issuing these cards anymore so in 2-3 years when all issued cards reach their expiry date you’ll have made a smooth transition from prepaid to current account. And the extra time gives prepaid card customers more opportunity to think about opening a new current account. Perhaps they will change their mind and decide to go for current account eventually.
Just my two cents, I’d honour the advertised expiry date printed on the card. Unless maintaining prepaid cards for next 2-3 years until they all expiry is very expensive for you? But I can’t see how it can cost you much. Licensing costs with Wirecard perhaps?
I’m very biased, but I think we were extremely clear throughout that this was the plan — every one of our blog posts said so, our homepage always said so etc. We literally haven’t changed our long-term vision one bit since I joined 2.5 years ago
They definitely did say from the beginning that their goal was to become a Current Account.
Yes there was a lot of confusion over it being marketed as a travel card etc (Martin Lewis) and then Monzo did have to make a decision about making it profitable (atm fees)
They aren’t railroading anyone to do anything, they are simply stating that if you wish to carry on using their service as you are doing now that you need to upgrade. If you don’t wish to then you don’t have to and you can go elsewhere? I don’t think that’s railroading at all
Monzo have said for a long time they would be cancelling the Prepaid cards. They also reiterated this when they launched the Current Account preview, so it’s not an abrupt change especially considering they will be giving users 60 days to make their decision