I am curious as to the spending habits of the minority though. Are they using the card in the UK for the majority of the time and go abroad and just take out a lot of cash every day they are there, or is there very little UK use on these cards, for example?
Similar to EU roaming for mobiles, they have a policy that you have to have used your phone in the UK for 60 of the last 120 days to get to use your UK allowance in the EU, maybe something similar should be in place for free ATM use.
If Monzo start charging 4% for atm withdrawals abroad I wonāt use it (with or without an allowance). Plenty of other options are available that are cheaper IF cash is required. Of course, I would still use the card for purchases where possible.
For a rough example, if I was to withdraw 10000 pesos 10 times on a 3 week holiday to the Philippines it would be Ā£30 to Ā£60 cheaper, depending on service, to just send the 100000 pesos to myself or a local bank account. Thatās a lot of beer!!
Iām all for option 2- the allowance sounds like a good idea except I would probably exceed it within a month if I happen to be travelling overseas. When they introduce ATM fees itāll just make my spending habits different- using card whenever possible and avoid getting cash out etc. Might be difficult in certain countries/cities, I found it impossible to go cashless in Paris but I used card everywhere in Munich, likewise it would be impossible in Thailand but I can use Apple Pay/ card everywhere in Singapore.
Itās up to users to weigh their options and decide which is more cost-effective for them when travelling, like others have expressed: costs should just be passed on to individual instead of being carried by everyone else via a monthly fee. I think 1.5% is a rate that canāt be beat by money changers/ foreign ATMs but 4% might be
Iāve had the Monzo card for a while and new to this forum
I have read from Money Saving Expert that Monzo are looking into charging ATM fees in the future:
Monzo has said it plans to introduce ATM fees overseas later in the year - as we predicted - which will bring it more in line with other cards in this guide.
Can you confirm if this is true and when will this happen, if it will?
It is a shame as I love the fact that there are no fees for using the card abroad regardless if it is a card payment or an ATM withdrawal
I see where Tom is coming from and can see that there is a need to start charging, but wonāt it be better to have a flat fee that covers all countries?
I wouldnāt mind paying like Ā£3-5 per month extra for a premium account that gives a decent/unlimited ATM withdrawal amount and that allows me not to have any surcharges on foreign ATM fees. Revolut has a black card and that includes medical insurance (I donāt think thatās really needed and see this being taken away).
Iām interested to see how the vote goes, I do like Option 2 to be honest as it is fair for everyone
Personally, as Monzo has never been advertised as a current account for the traveller, Iād be in more inclined to get a dedicated travel card for over seas atm withdrawals.
Iāve never really liked the idea of a Forex card (thatās just me being me) and it could be because of trust of where Iām placing my money and the troubles if I lose the card.With Monzo I know Iāll get help asap and can track my spending easier when back at the hotel
I donāt think the majority should be made to pay the price of the "small fraction"of users that monzo are paying for. Surely there must be another way.
Personally I feel monzo should do what metro & other banks have done. Free EU withdrawals, this could maybe have an upper limit for outside of the UK to allow you to distinguish between the high-expense users. This will also allow a 'fair usage policy, whereby those you use the most in the EU cover the higher cost. Then charge as you see fit with the rest of the world (hopefully the lowest rate/highly competitive ). Only thing Iām not sure about and probably what you guys at monzo arenāt sure about is how banking fees & regulations change post-Brexit š¤¦.
I would vote for an Option 4, free in EU but with perhaps a weekly or monthly limit on number of transactions. Otherwise may as well get an account at someone like Starling
Or option one with a small adjustment.
Free uk withdrawal, Ā£200 free monthly withdrawal in eu - 1.5% for everything above the limit , 2% everywhere else.
Once the fees are introduced, as far as I know Starling will be the only providers (aside from credit cards) that offer no fees for ATM withdrawals so what does that tell you?
You could use Starling for foreign transactions & with the current accounts, itāll be easy to use them alongside Monzo but ultimately by the time they get anywhere near Monzoās size, theyāll have to introduce these fees too.
Also, Monzo mainly need to win over the customers of the legacy bankās, Starling arenāt really the competition here, regardless of how much noise they try to make about not charging fees once Monzo introduce them. These fees shouldnāt be the deciding factor for users that want more than just a currency card.
So I wouldnāt worry about the competitive advantage, the fees will only cover Monzoās costs anyway so in the end, theyāll still be unbeatable. What matters is what makes sense for you, with your spending habits.
In my opinion, it should always be free UK withdrawals as all banks (as far as Im aware) in the UK offer free withdrawals.
Then whatever the cost is to withdraw cash or use your card overseas, you should pay for. If you incur the cost, then why would you not be expected to pay for it?
If you go on holiday and it costs you more to buy something that it usually would in the UK, you donāt expect the travel company to reimburse you - do you? You accept the fact that overseas travel might cost you more than spending in the UK.
Unless Monzo introduce a āprimeā account with a monthly fee to cover overseas withdrawals - then people who travel and make use of overseas withdrawals regularly, would benefit from it.
Obviously if Monzo want to give free withdrawals overseas, or a reduced rate to attract and retain customers, then that choice is theirs to make.
I rarely use cash nowadays on holiday anyway. Go somewhere like Sweden and itās so rare to see anyone use cash. Bjorn from Abba hasnāt used cash since 2011 apparently.