Options shared and taken to informal vote at tonight’s event:
Option 1: 1% EU except U.K., 2% rest of world, no allowance
Option 2: 1.5% outside U.K., no allowance
Option 3: 4% outside U.K. with £200/month free allowance
Tom emphasised that all UK ATM withdrawals will remain free as will any foreign card purchases - i.e. where possible pay by card not cash!
Tom suggested that he will probably take this to an all-user vote before making a decision. All three options should cover their current costs.
Thanks for sharing. I wonder how a £200 free allowance would work, given you won’t know the GBP amount until after withdrawing.
For example, if I were to withdraw €220, but the exchange rate at the time puts this at £201.32, will I be charged 4% on the whole withdrawal, or just on £1.32? It seems that a set number of withdrawals per month would be easier to understand and comply with (though I don’t know how this matches the charging structure of foreign ATMs).
While charges for rest of world I fully support, I would not use Monzo if they were charging for ATM use in EU (except for the exchange rate of course)
I would like to see option 3 but with an annual allowance of say £2400 a year, I only go on holiday maybe once or twice a year so would not make use of the £200 a month. I wonder if that is something Monzo has thought about?
When it comes to Starling, they’ll obviously be incurring exactly the same costs. So while it might take them a while before they start charging fair usage fees (they may delay, in order to try to win over Monzo / Revolut users), I have no doubts that they will start charging them too eventually.
I travel to EU monthly so if another competitor offered free ATM in EU or cheaper SEPA payments (I send SEPA three times a month) I would have to seriously consider them…despite the Monzo app being the dogs bollocks
Option 3: 4% outside U.K. with £200/month free allowance
I’d definitely pick this one,. I’d think that the EU should have a higher allowance somehow, and then I remembered that most banks seem to be 2.75% + shoddy exchange rate nowadays (potentially also with £1.50 for non-sterling transactions ), so no matter what I think Monzo would come out ahead of everyone else.
I’m currently in right now, in a really, really rural area (Creuse ), and it’s basically: more places than you think accept card (and all of them take contactless), but you need to carry cash with you regardless!
In terms of holidays, £200 may be too low for most people, but I feel like it’s a good compromise.
there is not a need for speculation or comments , as we all participating
on something different and interesting specially in the financial system ,
starting a free service is a risky financial gamble never the less the word
FREE as to be the holding key of the promise made ATM free withdrawal as
to remain as correctly commented not all of us will use the service abroad
at such of level to bring about a u turn on charging for this service ,
surely it will be a general feeling .
Any way ill end it here no more to say now ,cheers all ,and keep it up.
Berni:innocent: PS I do want a Lamborghini
I voted option 3 too as my recent holiday in Canada would have fallen within the limit so I would have not seen any extra charges. That said, Canada is like the U.K. with chip and pin / contactless payments in most places. Quite different if you are travelling in Asia or Africa!
The other thing Tom said on this topic is that he has 10 different debit cards from other banks and is going to test them all abroad and come back to us with the different charges as a comparison.
I’d also like to see the limit aggregated into a rolling six months or a year. I say this as someone who has made only two limited uses of ATM withdrawals in Europe on Monzo, so not a heavy user. But there some holidays where I could need more than £200 in cash. Over a few months or a year, though, the equivalent of £200/month would be good.
Am I right in thinking that getting cash back when using Monzo at a supermarket abroad wouldn’t count towards any limit or ATM fees?
I can’t imagine that it would be seen as anything but a point-of-sale transaction on the debit card, however it would be great if someone at Monzo could confirm.
I think that an ‘all-user vote’ would be significantly better than just asking the community on here. Most users are not on this forum, and are not as committed to Monzo as the people that are on here.
For example, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a disproportionately large number of people on this forum would be okay with paying more, whereas the majority of users (not in the forum) would not be as happy about this.
Furthermore, before making a decision, I think it would be very helpful to have more stats on the matter. E.g. What is the average amount people take out from an ATM, over the course of their holidays? What are the spending habits of the the small percentage, that makes it so much more expensive? etc.
I know it’s early days, I just think that at some point, a little more information could help people make an informed decision on the matter.
(These aren’t supposed to be complaints, just suggestions)
Funnily enough someone mentioned yesterday (I haven’t confirmed this) that when Bunq raised this issue, their users proposed using cash back instead of ATM’s as it “didn’t have the same fees attached”.
I think that’s a totally valid point. I’d like to see Monzo point users to this community to discuss the proposal though so that users can inform others & understand the impact on others that their choice will have too though, as opposed to simply creating a voting mechanism that everyone has access to.
Hey all, Chris here (new user) and wanted to chip-in with this as it’s an interesting subject.
I got my Monzo card as I work aboard a cruise ship (the Queen Mary 2) and the idea was to use the card when I visit the USA as I’m there every two weeks. We also do a four months ‘around the world’ cruise every January to May so get to take in many countries.
The initial fee-free ATM withdrawals was what hooked me in and although I’m yet to use it as I’m on leave until late August, I like that I can use it when I’m over in the states.
I usually pay with card and don’t carry cash so wasn’t looking at doing many ATM withdrawals but would use it. Around once a month to take out USD. I’ll use it like a travel card but also top it up to use in the UK so a one stop financial card will be perfect.
Would I pay? It depends on how much but having the £200 limit seems fair.
The average user may be making a few withdrawals in the EU, the issue for Monzo is that it is only 16% of all their customers who make up over 80% of all ATM costs incurred, and these were outside Europe where costs could be £3 or £4 per withdrawal, and in many cases those on longer term trips
All-user vote before any decision is made 
), so no matter what I think Monzo would come out ahead of everyone else.
right now, in a really, really rural area (Creuse 
), and it’s basically: more places than you think accept card (and all of them take contactless), but you need to carry cash with you regardless!
