I have had a Monzo current account since October 2018 and I use it to put my spending money in every month, leaving my full current account with NatWest available for my wage and recurring payments etc.
I was recently looking into going full Monzo, however I stopped when I was informed that I was not eligible for an overdraft at this time. Now, I have a decent overdraft with NatWest, my credit report is very good and I recently opened a Starling Account and they offered me an overdraft instantly (which I haven’t accepted as of this time). I have been through my credit report and I have no hard searches on my file for well over a year. It has to be about 7 years since I last dipped into my overdraft accidentally, so it isn’t something I use, however I like to have that peace of mind, just incase.
Are Monzo conservative with their overdraft offers?
Yeah from what I’ve read on here, plus based on statements from members of staff, they are very conservative when it comes to granting customers overdrafts.
Ah I see, I was worried that I had done something wrong, especially as Starling said I could have one straight away. I was looking at Monzo or Starling to possibly move my full account to, however I was put off choosing Monzo due to this.
I opened a Monzo account last week and was offered a £500 overdraft without having used the account.
Starling, which is currently my main account offered me £1000 when I opened the account last September. I’m still not eligible for a Starling loan though. Not that I’m looking to take one out, but it tells me that both Monzo and Starling are quite conservative in their lending. Probably a good thing.
I’m not sure how these things are worked out to be honest and it is better to be conservative with credit. It could save people from slipping into debt. It just confused me with being denied.
So you presumably had a recent credit check. That might be why Monzo are denying you an overdraft. Multiple requests for credit in a short period of time can make you appear desperate for credit.
My overdraft enquiry with Monzo was denied in November last year when I was looking through the app. I have only just signed up for the Monzo Community today to enquire about it. I opened my Starling account this month, and they offered me the overdraft straight away. Starling have done a soft search on me when I opened the account, however this is only visible to me. If I accept their overdraft offer, they will complete a hard search on my file which will be visible to other companies. The last hard search on my file is February 2018 when I was given a credit card.
I check my Clear Score account religiously, so thankfully there is nothing wrong there and as I said above, my credit score is very high.
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Anarchist
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Judging from my experience, yes. They are very conservative.
Monzo have no reason to not offer me an overdraft, but they didn’t.
Monzo only check and report to one credit reference agency so far (trans union, previously call credit. ) you can check your file for free here: https://www.noddle.co.uk/
Monzo offered to my unemployed wife £1000 when she opened her account. I’m stuck with £100 overdraft since beta and Monzo refuses to increase my limit.
Starling still offer me £2000 limit
Monzo offered me a lot more than other banks, credit file has improved drastically over the recent years though and not tried to increase with my legacy accounts
I’m in the same position. Monzo won’t ever be my main account (with my mortgage mandate) until it ups my £100 limit, even though I currently credit my salary into Monzo.
Starling just authorised my overdraft with a £2,500 limit, and I’ve activated £1,000. Combined with some savings (which I’ve moved from Monzo) I’m currently borrowing interest–free, for a couple of months.
I initially got to Starling for the fee-free business account, and to open it I believe I had to open a personal account first. Found the app very sleek and decided go full Starling shortly after.
Got Monzo as a backup last week and will probably close my legacy account soon. Exciting times.
Mine’s a £100 limit too… really crazy as I haven’t had a limit that low since I was 18. Monzo are just really conservative. It’s not really a functional overdraft facility at that level (I have individual bills higher than that) but luckily haven’t needed it.
