Hi could really do with a walkthrough on how to best utilise the virtual card and pot system on Monzo for outgoing subscriptions.
I have several monthly transactions which I’ve marked as subscriptions via the feed. I’ve created a pot with the sum total of these transactions in the hopes that the direct debits can be seamlessly taken from here throughout the month and not the main balance.
Most are standard streaming services and app store direct debits. My question is what’s the best way to set up these subscriptions without convoluting the main account and pot system? I’ve made a virtual card, but, for instance, with Amazon there’s no way to differentiate between the Prime subscription and a regular purchase from Amazon, and I don’t want to have to keep on switching between a virtual card and a main card, I’d just like a discreet way of the money to come out of a subscription pot ambiently.
Please don’t confuse a “subscription” that uses a card, with a “Direct Debit”. If you have to provide card details, it is a card payment, even if it is a recurring payment, and NOT a Direct Debit. A Direct Debit is when you provide bank details (account number and sort code). They are 2 different technologies, and shouldn’t not be confused with each other.
For Direct Debits, you tell Monzo if this should be taken from your main account balance, or from a pot (which the main account being used as a back up if you don’t have enough funds in the pot).
A virtual card is literally that, it is a separate bankiing card to your main physical card. If it’s attached to a pot, then you can treat it as a separate “account” since all payments will come from that pot, and will be rejected if you don’t have enough funds.
Just add the virtual card to the account you want to pay (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) like you would with any other bank’s card.
For companies that have both subscriptions and one-time purchases (like Amazon), if you wanted to pay your Prime subscription from your Virtual Card, but pay for all shopping items with your normal bank card, then you would add both cards to the account, and ensure your subscription is set to the virtual card, and your normal shopping is set to your other card. Using the last 4 digits to tell which is which.
I can’t thank you enough @BurnyCubbers77 for such a thorough and concise run through of it all. I’m very grateful, thank you very much indeed
Do you think a feature may become available in the future where
users can select ongoing monthly payments and ascribe them to a pot from the app instead of using virtual cards?
could really do with a walkthrough on how to best utilise the virtual card and pot system on Monzo for outgoing subscriptions.
