šŸ‡µšŸ‡¹ Monzo in Portugal [Discussion]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Portugal. Monzo card was accepted everywhere that accepts regular debit/credit cards. Very impressed with the awesome rates. Spot rate every time.

One time the bill I was paying was more than what I had on my card, however, I quickly opened the app, transferred enough money (all took about 20 seconds while the waiter was standing there) and then instantly was able to pay the bill. So impressed with the transfer speed. :slight_smile:

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I went to the Algarve in May and where I was it was very much cash only. However there are free cash machines on every corner just about.

I was in Tavira, lots of the restaurants especially specified ā€˜no cardsā€™ on their front doors.

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quick question and its always confused me when travelling. Im off to Portugal this week and will be looking to use my Monzo card. Whilst at an ATM if im ask to convert the currency rate should I choose Euro or GBP?

And also the same if im paying at a shop, should I select pay in Euro or GBP?

Thanks

Hey, itā€™s always better to choose the local currency (in this case EUR), this way Monzo gets to apply the currency conversion at the Mastercard rate. :slight_smile:

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99,999% cases you want to select local currency, so EUR in this case. All options to pay in card currencyā€™s are no different than paying with debit card from high street bank. Itā€™s called dynamic currency conversion and always includes some markup and not always the best exchange rate.

Some merchants might claim that they canā€™t accept payment in EUR (very rarely itā€™s true) and few ATMs donā€™t allow to withdraw without DCC, but usually you can navigate between yes/no and select local currency for withdrawals.

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Worth noting that needed to turn on magnetic strip to use Monzo on the public transport ticket machines.

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Where was this? I found that all the places I went to around Lisbon/Cascais seemed happy with chip+pin :smile:

Was at the Airport train ticket machine. Rejected first two attempts, but it was an insert and remove card reader. Assumed it was magnetic, turned on and it worked. Other than that, agree most places accept chip and pin. However, as already noted, quite a few places only accepted Portuguese cards. But taking out cash on your Monzo means itā€™s only a slight inconvenience.

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just to add a reply. weve just come back from Portugal (Albufeira area) and pretty much used the card everywhere. ATMā€™s seemed OK. I was a bit wary of the Euronet ATMā€™s but seemed OK. Was getting a rate of around ā‚¬1.10 for the first few days, then it dropped to ā‚¬1.09. Used in Lidl, Petrol stations and several restaurants in the area.

thanks for the advice and will be using again

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No problems at restraunts, cafes, ATM and bars. What more can you ask for! Brilliant card

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Just got back from a few days in Lisbon, didnā€™t have a great time with Monzo. Lots and lots (Iā€™d say 75%) of card readers refused our Monzo cards and my Halifax Clarity card. One guy told us that thereā€™d been issues with Monzo and Halifax cards ā€œfor the last few weeksā€ but before that theyā€™d been fine.
Overall, it wasnā€™t a huge deal for us because we were able to get cash out at ATMs without any trouble, but on one occasion we werenā€™t near an ATM and had to use a Santander card, which came with a hefty fee. Bit annoying, hopefully it can be sorted out.

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In January I went to Portugal and monzo was working just fine.
Now, I came back again and almost any payment terminal was refusing the monzo card. :pensive:
The only working payment terminal was the Santanderā€™s one.

To withdraw money, any ATM works without any problems.
Already contacted monzo support and they say they are aware and trying to fix the issue.

Hope this information helps.

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CA Card or Prepaid? Going there in June!

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Weā€™re aware there is a problem with the current account card in Portugal right now. We are in the process of getting this sorted. I think we know the cause.

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CA Card.
Have some money with you to avoid problems.
You can withdraw in any ATM machine.

But monzo is already trying to solve the problem :yum:

Thank you @BethS :wink:
Iā€™m sure that team monzo can sort this out quickly :smiley:

Can you share what you think the cause is?

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From what I remember itā€™s a terminal issue. Donā€™t quote me on that. Iā€™ve deleted slack from my phone because Iā€™m on holiday :rofl:

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then go and enjoy your holiday and stop checking in here too often :wink:

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I came back from a holiday in Madeira a couple of weeks ago and my card only worked in one card machine (for the cable cars in Funchal). It was rejected everywhere else. I contacted Monzo who suggested I just get cash from the ATMs as the providersā€™ card readers were probably out of date but I had no problem with my First Direct cards. The ATMs did work with the exception of one machine but of course I had to pay the Monzo withdrawal fees as I went over my allowance. I have a trip planned to Alaska later this year but no longer have confidence choosing to use Monzo as my main card. Iā€™m currently investigating alternative options for the most cost-effective way to spend abroad.

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