One of the reasons I was so attracted to Monzo was that I’ve been going over my overdraft a lot recently due to contactless. I live in London and so use my old card for travel, however those payments wouldn’t show on my online banking in pending payments, and would be taken out suddenly at odd times. I love that Monzo shows contactless immediately, but I’m still unsure about the overdraft payment system. I know there will be overdraft charges, but are there any now? I’m not even sure if it’s possible to go over the amount currently held on my card. If someone could just clarify, can I spend more than is held on my card at the moment, and if so, the charges that occur, if not, when will they be put in place?
Currently it’s not possible to overdrawn, You’ll simply receive a transaction declined notification.
Overdrafts are on the roadmap though we’re being told not to expect them until after the full bank has launched, which is expected to be early next year. We’re not sure of what fees there’ll be, but there will be some as it’s expected to be Monzo’s primary source or income, at least until other forms of lending commence.
Right now, it’s a bit naughty but you can go in to minus amounts from TfL contactless travel for free under certain circumstances. You can not go overdrawn through regular methods as there is no overdraft facility at all and everything will be declined until you top up (including future TfL payments resulting in a blacklist of your card from travel until the balance is paid to Monzo and TfL).
As for the future, you may want to take a read of the following blog post.