The community is definitely only a fraction of users, but if it doesn’t appear at all it probably is a really rare occurrence. If you’re convinced most of the replies here are defending Monzo (and hiding the fact they have similar issues) maybe you should get in touch with help and explain your situation, since this seems to be inconveniencing you a lot.
We responded to say we have not seen a similar problem but since we all have not experienced this issue, it’s probably not the answer you want.
I think that’s a false equivalence, unless you’ve found multiple users you know experiencing the same problem who don’t use the forums very much. Hopefully you can get in touch and maybe swap the card if it gets too unbearable.
i have found testing dozens of cards from various UK and EU banks that they all have an NFC sweet spot. Some are best touched on a reader with the left of the card, others with the right. Maybe trying the card at a different angle i.e. vertical rather than horizontal or vis versa may help.
I remember the word “contactless” was debated on this forum before- maybe our friend here is taking the word too literally and holding it too far from the reader? (I kid)
This blog post actually says that Monzo card can be a bit slow because it always try to complete transection online but tbh I have never experienced any delay compare to other bank cards I use…
There are a few reasons that merchants might refuse your Monzo card. Some still think it’s a prepaid or credit card. The most common reason though, is that a customer has walked off before the transaction has declined. Unlike other banks, our card transactions default to online processing (which we use for things like: instant notifications, spending updates, card freezing, security and much more.) This means our cards can take a little longer to approve or decline.
To be honest, I find it interesting that I asked a fairly clear question about whether others had a similar experience and most of what I’ve had is posts from people who in some cases have thousands of posts on the forum chiming in with information that is not helpful. It’s quite interesting. Of course, I could use the help function, but I assumed the point of the forum was to crowdsource solutions. Clearly that’s not what some people use this forum for.
It’s a bit like if you were to ask if there is a doctor in the house and then a bunch of people come up to tell you they’re not doctors. I asked specific question asking if people had a specific experience. I didn’t ask a general question about people’s experience which is what I got. I naively believed that the point of the forum was to discuss issues. It’s not.
I don’t get this: you asked if anyone else had the problem. People said they didn’t. Isn’t that a valid answer to your question? Were only those supposed to answer who did experience problems?
Totally understand that, on many occasions when I run into a problem/ don’t understand something about the app/ find something annoying- my first approach is to check the help section or ask on forums if it’s not something private that I can only discuss with the team.
I can assure you it’s not our intention to sound dismissive about your problem, you asked if anyone was experiencing this issue, I responded saying I hadn’t/ tried to ask more about the situation. I didn’t realise you only intended for people experiencing the same issue to respond?
I have noticed more failures with Monzo than other cards. Nothing enough to stop me using it but noticeable.
I oddly have found turning the card so the front is touching the reader rather than the back seems to work but I have zero idea if there is a reason for this.
Pretty sure it’s accidental. The antenna is in the middle of the card and has an equal amount of plastic on both sides so it should work no matter what orientation you use it.
I’m actually curious as to how you all get contactless failures - I’ve never had it fail personally. I just put the card flat on top of the reader’s screen and it always works.
Honestly I havent really paid attention to the models so I can’t be sure. It’s never really bothered me because chip and pin has always worked and contactless doesnt fail all the time… maybe one in four. I really thought it was a Monzo thing in that they wanted you to enter your pin more often but that was just a guess! But I’ll keep an eye out on the terminal types and report back!
That requirement doesn’t exist in any rigidly defined way with Monzo (or with most banks that prefer online contactless). While banks may always give a decline for withdrawal limit exceeded (forcing an insert) if suspicious, the days of a contactless amount or number of transactions limit are over for most banks.
I’ve seen loads of people do that, as if the reader is dirty and they don’t want to touch their precious card on it!
But also people who clearly have magstripes on the brain and scrub their cards furiously around on the reader like some kind of brillo pad cleaning action, then are perplexed why it didn’t work!
it can be confusing though when some readers in garages may be on the side of the device, some in shops near the screen at the top of the device, others at the front of the device away from the screen near the bottom. It is only with the small PayPal Here like devices it is easy and obvious!
Is anyone else still having trouble with this? My issue is specifically with the London Underground readers. I regularly get “Seek Assistance” messages but it will eventually work. It definitely takes longer to register on a good day than Lloyd’s or Nationwide for example. Is it a MasterCard issue?
(I kid)
