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.
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?
Hey, itās always better to choose the local currency (in this case EUR), this way Monzo gets to apply the currency conversion at the Mastercard rate.
99,999% cases you want to select local currency, so EUR in this case. All options to pay in card currencyās are no different than paying with debit card from high street bank. Itās called dynamic currency conversion and always includes some markup and not always the best exchange rate.
Some merchants might claim that they canāt accept payment in EUR (very rarely itās true) and few ATMs donāt allow to withdraw without DCC, but usually you can navigate between yes/no and select local currency for withdrawals.
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 itās only a slight inconvenience.
just to add a reply. weve just come back from Portugal (Albufeira area) and pretty much used the card everywhere. ATMās seemed OK. I was a bit wary of the Euronet ATMās 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.
Just got back from a few days in Lisbon, didnāt have a great time with Monzo. Lots and lots (Iād say 75%) of card readers refused our Monzo cards and my Halifax Clarity card. One guy told us that thereād been issues with Monzo and Halifax cards āfor the last few weeksā but before that theyād been fine.
Overall, it wasnāt a huge deal for us because we were able to get cash out at ATMs without any trouble, but on one occasion we werenāt near an ATM and had to use a Santander card, which came with a hefty fee. Bit annoying, hopefully it can be sorted out.
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.
The only working payment terminal was the Santanderās 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.
Weāre 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.
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. Iām currently investigating alternative options for the most cost-effective way to spend abroad.