I don’t think we can diagnose the cause here.
The facts seem to be:
We will all respond differently to this. If it happens to any of us, I’m sure we’ll make an informed view of what action (if any) we take in response.
In the circumstances neither had never actually used their overdraft. If it was someone who regularly did I would wholeheartedly agree
Not if your utilisation is 0…
I’m not really sure on the technicalities if I’m honest but am aware different lenders have different criteria and didn’t post here for a moan but more of an FYI for other users.
Like I said it won’t impact me in the slightest, it was offered and I accepted simply because I could.
After pushing the guys on chat a little more they’ve told me it won’t impact my credit score in the slightest and they’ll escalate it on to see if we can get a specific reason for the overdraft being withdrawn.
Indeed if there’s an issue with my credit file I’ve missed or am unaware of I’d like to know.
In general yes, but the impact on Monzo’s algorithm 
E.g. there may be a flag if one account is at 80%+ used
And you (we) don’t know whether that will be positive or negative 
Hi,
I’m one of the product managers working on overdrafts. Thanks for all your questions, I’ll try my best to cover a few of the points that have been raised.
We continually use data from our Credit Reference Agency to make decisions about who to offer overdrafts to, and how much. Because of this, we decided not to offer some users an overdraft anymore.
This is part of our role of being a responsible lender. The data we use to make these decisions includes things like a bankruptcy, some defaulted payments, or a County Court Judgement. In this case, with that new information, we decided not to offer some users credit through an overdraft any more.
We only removed overdrafts for users who aren’t currently using their overdraft, or have ever used it in the past.
These users had enabled their overdraft, but since they aren’t using it, there’s nothing they need to do, and they don’t owe us anything either. We intentionally made sure that we weren’t taking anyone into an unarranged position.
If you’re having any financial trouble, or are worried that this change might put you in financial trouble, please let us know and we’ll do what we can to help.
We’ve let our customer service team know about this, and they are always available to talk through the in-app chat.
If you think the data we’ve received is wrong, please get in touch with Customer Service through the in-app chat and let us know.
We’d really like to investigate this with our Credit Reference Agency as we certainly don’t want to be taking overdrafts away due to errors. By working together we can spot if there were any errors, and prevent them happening again.
Thanks again, and sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.
Rich
Thanks Rich! I think one of the key points here was users not being given notice that their overdraft was being withdrawn. Are you able to explain why Monzo doesn’t give notice in some instances?
My guess would be that if someone is not in overdraft or has never used it then Monzo would not see the need for a notice.
Great post Rich. I never use OD or apply but I think I appreciate Monzo doing things proper and actually being a responsible lender (not just in name!)
Being a responsible lender is admirable, and I wouldn’t want anything else, but also talking to your customers before making such a fundamental change to their financial set up is equally important…makes us feel like we are valued and not just numbers on a spreadsheet (whilst understanding Monzo are running a business)
Well, please see below;
Not sure I completely agree with the position on this; I don’t have an overdraft, but I do have a credit card for a “security net”. However just because someone hasn’t used their overdraft, doesn’t mean they’re not going to at any point, certainly with holiday season coming up - The user has opted to have an overdraft, to provide that security that if things are tight for a particular month (e.g. unexpected car bill or the likes) they know they have it available.
To remove it without notice certainly is another issue on top of removing it in the first place - If it’s going to be removed it should be a choice the user should have - e.g. “We’ve noticed you haven’t used your overdraft, would you still like it?”
I’m in the camp that if the user has access to something like this, at least a few weeks notice for the removal of said product should be given before it goes into effect. Or else someone could end up making some mistakes with their personal finances!
Sorry I am missing your point?
They haven’t removed it for no reason.
I am just referring to Rich’s post in which as I understood he has explained that Monzo would try to help wherever possible of someone is having any difficulties and if a user think their decision is wrong they can ask for this to be investigated. Based on the outcome I am assuming OD could be reinstated.
I see. That doesn’t help if the user was planning on relying on an overdraft facility they set up in good faith which has now been closed with no notice, or reasoning as far as we can tell…it just doesn’t reflect very well on Monzo’s customer service in my view.
I didn’t say there was no reason, I’m fully aware of the two seperate reasons listed, I read the post a few times while writing my post - I was however commenting that if someone has their overdraft taken away because they don’t use it, they should at least have notice on that rather than it just disappearing without prior notice.
A number of users have had overdrafts cancelled today. Cancelling them with immediate effect smacks of legacy banks rather than the friendly face of a Monzo that professes to care about those with financial difficulties. To give a reasonable notice period such as a month would be better. This would give users time to make alternative arrangements. They may have already planned expenditure based on having such a facility e.g. entered a contract with a workman or something, so may need time to rearrange their financial commitments.
I’ve literally just quoted Rich’s comment on this again.
Why would they ask if the user still wanted to keep their overdraft if they have a reason for removing it?