I have had a Monzo Flex card for a couple of months, opening it at the same time as my current account.
For the past month or so, any TfL transactions going through my Flex account are being “flexed” into either 2 or 3 month instalment plans, even though my Flex card is set to pay in full. For a while, I was just editing them down to 1 payment but then it kept happening so I decided to ask customer services why it was happening and if it was a bug or something.
After going round and round in circles with a couple of advisors giving my copy/paste answers - mainly of them misunderstanding my issue and giving my responses related to the fact that several days of TfL transactions use the same authorisation code and debit as a collective payment rather than individual days (which I already knew) - I eventually spoke to someone who read my issue and said they would pass it on to a speciality technical team.
They have now come back with the same response. That “it’s the way TfL process their transactions and there’s nothing they can do about it”.
I have continuously made an argument that it can’t be anything to do with this because, for the past 8 years of living in London and using multiple different credit cards, I have never had payments being spread across months. They all debit and get paid for on the next payment date.
I also proposed what would happen if I used my Monzo debit card which can’t possibly flex.
What is even more confusing about this issue is that some payments flex for 2 months, some for 3 months and some don’t flex at all.
One TfL payment for £4.90 was flexed into two £2 payments and one 90p payment!
Has anyone else experienced this issue where their card is set to pay in full but some (not all) TFL payments automatically flex across multiple months?
Maybe I’m the only one and it’s a technical issue with my card/account.
This is the transactions flexing into payment plans rather than coming through as 2-3 transactions, right? If so the person from Monzo you talked to still doesn’t know what they’re saying.
It’s a bit odd if it’s happening without any input from you but at least the payment plans aren’t leaving you financially worse off.
I wonder if Monzo are testing 3-month defaults and you ended up with a feature flag on your account by accident?
@TomMills one for you when you’re back from holibobs?
My card is set to pay in full by default but TfL transactions only (like I said, not all of them) are then flexing into 2 or 3 month instalment plans.
Below is an example of a copy/paste answer I was given multiple times during my conversations with customer services:
“Transport for London uses authorization for a number of transactions. This results in the same instalment plan being amended rather than a new one created for each transaction. These are still pay in full, except each month Transport for London debits come from the same instalment plan.”
The above doesn’t really make any sense to me.
I understand that they may use the same AUTHORISATION code for multiple transactions from different days; I get that, I’ve experienced that before on other cards. But they keep making reference to “the same instalment plan” when my card is set to pay in full and I have never requested an instalment plan in the first place.
You mentioned testing a 3-month default, but some payments are being flexed over 2-months, and some aren’t being flexed at all.
The adviser I was going round in circles with offered to escalate it as a complaint, so I took them up on their offer.
As you’ve said, it’s not leaving me worse off so I am not really that bothered by it. However, it’s the principle that something is clearly wrong but nobody seems to be listening to me and keeps making reference to instalment plans that don’t exist.
They’ll be paid in May’s Flex payment - not April’s. This may make it look like it’s in multiple instalments - but instead it’s multiple “pay straight away” payments on the next payment date (if you’re with 14 days)
If you have any before (14 days before 12th April), they’ll be paid in April.
Have you looked at the flex transaction? Does it show multiple TFL transactions being added to the flex transaction? Do those subsequent payment totals add up to every TFL payment from 14 days before your FLEX payment date for a month?
As I said. This is tough without looking at your flex stuff. But this is what I assume is happening based off what the advisor said.
But they’re not being paid in full in May’s payment.
For that particular example, on 31 March a payment of £8.15 was authorised on my account. I can’t remember if it was showing at that point as pay in full or on an instalment plan.
On 2 April, another payment of £6.40 was requested (presumably via the same auth code because the transaction total increased to £14.55).
At this point I noticed that it was on an instalment plan for 2 months, with the first payment being scheduled for 25 April of £9 and second payment being scheduled for 25 May of £5.55.
Interestingly, an EARLIER transaction of a similar value (£14.35) which also consisted of 2 travel charges on 1 auth code flexed to a 3 MONTH instalment plan instead.
29 March, payment of £6.40 authorised on my account.
31 March, another payment of £7.95 using the same auth code appears under the transaction.
Instalment plan of £7 on 25 April, £7 on 25 May and £0.35 on 25 June set up.
As you can see, these transactions begun and ended LONG before the statement date of 12th April.
You can see that the “Organise” note at the bottom is the initial payment date (and in fact at the top you can see the same date and time of the initial transaction.
You can then see the later travel charges added in the middle with the date.
And then of course you can see and edit the instalment plan.
You’ll notice my payment date is 25th of each month, meaning the cutoff (which I had previously referred to as “statement date”) is 14 days prior so around the 11/12 of the month.
These 2 TfL transactions are both dated LONG before the 14-day cutoff.
Now this transaction if you look at the date and time at the top “Saturday 6 April at 03:22” and the Organise comment at the bottom “Travel Charge for Friday 5 Apr” was originally for £6.40 and it HADN’T had a Flex instalment plan automatically applied to it.
Today, the same authorisation code has been updated with a further £3.20 for 7 April (which was actually my travel charge tor 6 April) for a total of £9.60.
And now, the payment has been changed to what was pay-in-full on 25 April, to a 2-month instalment plan, with my first payment for £7 on 25 April and the second payment for £2.60 on 25 May.
I never changed or requested this. It’s doing it automatically despite there still being a further 4 or 5 days to my 14-day payment day cutoff date.
How bizarre, not helpful I know but I’d be curious to know the answer if/when you get one.
Can’t even put it down to presentments from TfL, which would use the comments above ie 14 days before due date, jumping to the next, but that’s not the case
I am convinced this is an issue with Flex and haven’t accepted Monzo’s copy/paste reply as yet. It’s been escalated as a complaint as I am not convinced this is “because of the way TfL process their payments”.
I think what they are referring to in that statement is the fact that TfL use the same authorisation code for multiple transactions across multiple different days - I get that and understand that’s how they do it.
What’s happening to me - in my opinion - has nothing to do with this.
Using a different credit card as I have done for years, the payment comes out in full every month because there is no other option (instalment plans and flex over 2 or 3 months interest free are not a feature of any credit card I’ve used in the past).
This leads me to believe this is a Monzo bug and nothing to do with TfL - despite customer service telling me otherwise.
I agree, using the same auth code (presenting another amount) wouldn’t bring the same issue you have, it would just change the amount or reflect whatever pay period it’s due to pay in full if less than 14 days to the next.
Baffled.
The amounts due also don’t correlate to your travel days which could possibly be understood, but they don’t align which makes it more confusing.
And now, to make matters worse, the same has happened with a Lime bike payment - so this is definitely not just related to TfL payments, like customer service have been wrongly telling me.
9th April - Lime requested £2.45
25 April - £2 payment
25 May - £0.45 payment
Again, my account is set to full but for some reason this payment has been flexed across 2 months without me asking for it.
I’m half-tempted to close my Flex account and just use my Halifax credit card.
In my opinion, something is quite wrong with Flex and it doesn’t give me much faith and trust in the product.
I have the ability to change any of these payments but have chosen to leave them as they are whilst it’s being investigated and my complaint is being looked in to.
. But do you have any idea what’s going on here? 