This mostly has to do with contactless cards in the UK running offline traditionally. Offline transactions are a risk, especially with under 18s who you can’t hold to a contract or give credit to.
An online-only card can have contactless, but traditionally didn’t in the UK. Monzo is (mostly, I know theoretically some offline transactions can now occur) online-only. This won’t be an issue for them to accomplish.
I never said it wouldn’t go below that number, just they have confirmed they would open it up in the future for 17 year olds ‘definitely’. As you mention, they would only ‘love to be able to offer’ it for 12 year olds at some point.
Hadn’t seen the ‘definitely for 17 and older’ post, so thanks for that 
I’m sure that 12 and older will come in time as legacy banks offer this so both my kids have a legacy account, but it was half a day off work to go visit a branch to try and get my eldest access to his money because they didn’t have his signature on file even though he signed the original application form. Their mobile phone app and security questions and answers are a nightmare as there are far too many ‘passwords’ for him to remember, so he’s had to have a ‘snail mail’ reminder of info in the past meaning he hadn’t got access to his money until the letter finally turned up.
Yeah, I understand how this works - I’ve explained it to my Mum on numerous occasions.
It’s quite annoying having an online-contactless card though, as certain mobile-internet terminals take forever to authorise the payment (or timeout and make you do it again)…
Speaking of that, are Monzo cards forced online or do they also allow offline for contactless (the CA ones)?
Monzo cards are online preferring, this effectively means that they will ask the terminal to go online wherever possible but are still supported in places where it is difficult for terminals to get online or they can not for some reason. 
Except for magstripe since the service code requires online 
I prefer it, available balance is updated instantly, and there’s no limit to the number of contactless transactions you can do in a row or anything. It’s also the future. ALL Visa contactless cards in the UK should prefer online by the end of the year. Amex cards already seem to from what I can tell. Mobile wallets always go online. And so forth… the days of offline contactless are numbered.
Correct, the question referred to contactless but ideally, no merchant should be sending unmatched presentments for magstripe Debit Mastercard transactions nowadays. 
Hmmm… if I’m ever in Montana in the summer again, I’ll have to see if they’re still doing it at the Logan Pass visitor centre in Glacier National Park… they’re a long way from a network connection up there, and I’m not sure how far along in the EMV migration US national parks are (I know they have it for ticket sales, but I don’t know about concessions).
Satellite internet should work just fine for them. You don’t need a lot of bandwidth nor latency for card payments.
I’m curious what happens in case someone sends a presentment for magstripe transactions without a prior authorisation. I know you’re supposed to accept all presentments but in this case the merchant is explicitly ignoring what the service code tells them to do, so in this case would you reject it based on that?
What about ‘kids cards’? My proposal is additional Monzo cards attached to my account which I could give to my children and I could put money into via the ‘pots’ system. That way I could give them an allowance and make sure their money is not being misused. When, they’re old enough they can apply for their own account and card.
There are kids accounts available with other providers that utilise cards, but this is more of an allowance system for younger children, to teach them about money and to make sure it’s not being mishandled.
Hello 
We don’t offer accounts to under 18s right now or the ability to have two cards for one account, but we are looking at alternative ways people might want to utilise our accounts.
I would love a kids Monzo account! Daughter has just turned 6 she’s loving learning about money, but her only tool is an old school money box. I think she’s at the right age to be learning about money and today I’ve been looking at pocket money apps; I especially like the ones that can link to chores and have the opportunity to use pots: would certainly be happy to pay for something like this in line with other similar offers, like goHenry.
Card terminals work fine on GPRS don’t they? Just may be a bit slow, where I work we utilise satellite broadband. Once you get past the intel latancy it’s ok.
They work but are slow. UMTS is the current expectation and I know LTE terminals are the future (though likely partially pushed by networks in some countries pushing forward to an LTE-only future more than any technical advantage).
Agreed. I’ve had to use gprs terminals before. Can be waiting a good 60 seconds or more.
WiFi ones are ok. but i find the Bluetooth ones bad. The range isn’t often good enough etc. Staff end up having to walk closer to the receiver.
I wonder how long it will be until offline transactions are a thing of the past.
I’ve had to use a GPRS terminal a few times. It takes forever to get an approval (and more often than not it times out before it does)…
Exactly this. Monzo is an excellent fit for youngsters. Having a “pseudo account” attached to a parent’s account would be perfect.
There is a bit of a surge in card accounts for 8+ children recently - it’s a great way to teach kids about using money in these modern times. I would love to see Monzo create accounts that auto-upgrade at key dates - so for 8+ kids get a prepaid card with account number (for bank transfers in), when reaching 11 these upgrade to standard account with immediate auth-required debit card and no overdraft etc., and when they reach 16/18 these upgrade to full current account. Typically the prepaid child accounts from other providers have attached fees which is fine, but disappointing when I can give my child more money if I wasn’t paying for the account - so what I would consider might be an option is providing these prepaid accounts for free to children whose parents use Monzo and deposit say £1000+ a month and use direct debits etc. Something like that is often the requirement other banks have for incentives, so I assume this may be able to offset the cost somehow. The ability to carry the same account number through their life is very convenient, as is having an account that always works for them. I foresee the app being a place to monitor not just my own spending, but that of my kids too (in separate tabs or something) and of course, this overseeing would be removed when the child reaches 16/18 and the account upgrades automatically. I think by offfering such a family-oriented and well-rounded featureset, Monzo can really set itself up for the future with this children obviously growing up and contributing to the bank as a whole.
+1 . Have two kids, 8 and 10. They both have gohenry cards and metro savings accounts (they give £5 if you pay cash in five different months).
My eldest would love a monzo account at 11 (when banks like metro and others will issue a contactless card), metro will probably get the business otherwise as they are so friendly to the kids in branch right now.