Unable to withdraw cash at ATM

[lozcozenge (Loz)]

I’ve recently switched to Monzo but now a bit concerned about this because I needed to withdraw cash earlier but the ATM said Unable to process it. I needed £300 didn’t work. Reduced to £250, then £150, then £100 and none worked. My limits in the app all show more than this and I have substantially more credit in my account.

So why would Monzo not allow the withdrawal? If this happens again this is a serious issue, not being able to take cash out.

I had to fall back to my old account I still have and go into its overdraft to get my money then transfer from Monzo to my other account.

[gmclean]

Did you try another ATM?

[kolok]

It would be the ATM provider refusing the transaction not monzo.

Did they show as declined in your app?

[jzw95]

Is it possible it was an ATM that uses magstripe instead of the chip? (You can sometimes tell because the card moves back and forth a few times in the machine to read it.) If so, you need to enable magstripe withdrawals in the app. They are disabled by default because it’s a security risk and the number of machines that use it in the UK is very small.

[mholland (Martyn Holland)]

I’ve found that ATMs branded as G4S dont accept Monzo

[Mogolent]

Some ATMs don’t accept MasterCard - Visa only

[Feathers (MikeF)]

Yeah, the key issue is probably this:

@Mogolent

Some ATMs don’t accept MasterCard

[jzw95]

Actually, it’s not that they accept Visa, but there are some LINK only ATMs. Monzo cards aren’t part of the LINK network. Most traditional banks are, regardless of whether the card itself has the Mastercard or Visa logo.

[lozcozenge (Loz)]

Did you try another ATM?

There’s only 1 in my village

Did they show as declined in your app

No nothing in the app

Is it possible it was an ATM that uses magstripe instead of the chip?

Oh never heard of that. I will try it next time, thanks.

I’ve found that ATMs branded as G4S dont accept Monzo

Will take a look, but its a Link ATM I think

Some ATMs don’t accept MasterCard - Visa only

This would be really bad, never heard of this. Will check also. So I guess if you use Monzo there may be times you cant get any money? That is of course real bad.

Monzo cards aren’t part of the LINK network

I have never heard of cards not working in ATMs, so if this is the case then this is terrible. It would mean as a Monzo user you need to carry another card around with you with money in it in case you need to withdraw cash and it wont accept Monzo.

It sounds like its a Link issue I think, which would be really bad seen as Link is really popular. I only have 1 ATM in my village and its Link.

[gmclean]

It’s unfortunate you only have 1 ATM in your village that’s for sure.

As for it being ‘terrible’ that cards not working in some ATMs, it’s not Monzo specific. Every card/ATM combination has the potential to fail. I guess you are feeling it worse as you have no alternative. That sucks.

[Feathers (MikeF)]

@lozcozenge

It sounds like its a Link issue I think

Not at all.

Monzo are not members of LINK so machines that support LINK don’t accept their cards unless they support MasterCard as well. That’s easy to tell from the logos displayed on the front of the machine (normally).

[jzw95]

@lozcozenge

I have never heard of cards not working in ATMs, so if this is the case then this is terrible.

That’s because the vast majority of ATMs support Mastercard and Visa, but there are a very small number that don’t.

There’s further information (including confirmation from a Monzo employee) in this thread:

LINK EMV application (or lack thereof)

I noticed when I put my Monzo card in a USB card reader and analysed it with cardpeek that it doesn’t have a LINK (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LINK_(UK)) application on it like my NatWest cards do, only the Mastercard application. Is Monzo not directly connected to LINK like other UK banks? (I see Monzo isn’t on the list of members at https://www.link.co.uk/membership/members/) Is there any benefit to Monzo to being in or out of that system? This is entirely technical curiousity, obviously i…

And there have been a few similar queries since then:

Card rejected at ATMs

My card keeps getting rejected when trying to withdraw cash at ATMs. I live very close to a Post Office and a Co-op both with ATMs and sometimes they accept my card, sometimes they don’t. Yesterday in my city centre I had to try four banks before I found a HSBC ATM that accepted my card. It seems to have gotten worse since Monzo’s recent ad campaigns and I’m wondering if it’s a concerted effort by the big banks to push back against the new players? If so, how can we counter this?

Card refused by Link ATM

I tried to use my monzo card in a link atm and it was refused I tried twice just to be sure refused both times with a message along the lines of unrecognised card. Is this that link doesn’t accept monzo or just a glitch. I was using my monzo card to avoid the £1.99 charge but as it was declined had to use an alternative and accept the charge.

[lozcozenge (Loz)]

Monzo are not members of LINK so machines that support LINK don’t accept their cards unless they support MasterCard as well.

Sorry thats what I mean when I say a Link issue, the issue is to do with LINK (i.e. Monzo not being members).

[lozcozenge (Loz)]

@gmclean

As for it being ‘terrible’ that cards not working in some ATMs, it’s not Monzo specific.

In my 25 or so years of using ATMs to get money I have never ever come across this. I thought all ATMs give money, some free some charge. So it is terrible to all of a sudden being to able to get cash out from anywhere to not be able to get cash out after a switch to Monzo.

I think I have always had Visa Debit. If Visa Debit work on all machines (I have never ever had an issue anywhere with my other cards), then Monzo could use Visa Debit if its to do with Mastercard not being supported.

[Feathers (MikeF)]

It’s more likely that your previous cards were VISA and LINK as a lot of the big banks are and so were covered by two networks.

[coffeemadman (Jonathon 🏳️‍🌈)]

What does it cost for Monzo to join Link? Why haven’t they?

[Feathers (MikeF)]

Quite a lot, I believe, which is why they haven’t (from memory only).

[jzw95]

@lozcozenge

If Visa Debit work on all machines (I have never ever had an issue anywhere with my other cards), then Monzo could use Visa Debit if its to do with Mastercard not being supported.

No, it’s nothing to do with Visa vs Mastercard. In fact, Vocalink (the company that operates LINK) is now owned by Mastercard, so if anything it would be the other way around. It’s just a question as to whether the LINK application is present on the card’s chip or not.

UK issued debit cards generally come with a LINK EMV application in addition to a point-of-sale EMV application that can be Visa Debit, Debit MasterCard, Maestro, Visa Electron or UnionPay applications.

Link (British interbank network) - Wikipedia

@coffeemadman

What does it cost for Monzo to join Link? Why haven’t they?

I think it might also be a question of the extra work to integrate with LINK, have it verified, etc. They might have felt it wasn’t worth it due to the wide availability of Mastercard ATMs.