So recently the app was down and I had minimal money in my current account (as its spread over pots for specific spending, etc.) which meant at that point I couldn’t transfer money as required to make a purchase I needed to. Whilst that wasn’t the end of the world for that short period of time, it prompted me to think of what would happen if I lost my phone or for some reason the app wasn’t accessible for an extended period of time.
I asked Monzo about this (as their desktop functionality does not allow you to move money around) and the summed up reply was that you just can’t access your money if it’s not in your current account. I asked further whether there can’t be an overflow setting that allows you to dig into an allocated pot in the event your current account balance was insufficient and that was not available also.
It can’t be a tenable (or even legal) situation where you can’t access or use your money simply because you’ve lost access to the app. Has anyone experienced this or found work arounds?
This is obviously one of the downsides to an app based bank. That being said you could still make card payments, you could still phone them and you could still access the Web version.
Ultimately it was for a few hours at most if I remember correctly. Hardly grounds for legal action and arguably not that disruptive.
FYI Lloyd’s, Halifax and the Bank of Scotland banking apps all went down the other day. It happens
As others have stated, you haven’t lost access to your money. You have just lost immediate access to your money due to a temporary technical issue. You could still call them, use the limited web access and even write to them if it was that drastic.
The possibility of an app failure is one of the reasons I still have my RBS account. As my savings are also not in Monzo I could redirect money. The ability to get money from an ATM without a card with RBS/Natwest is quite useful… as long as RBS isn’t also down .
Moral of the story - always have a backup with basic funds. Even if it is just £10 for something like a taxi.
Interestingly, Strong Customer Authentication regulations are being implemented that will force all banks to carry out more detailed checks when you log into your account, move money or make online transactions.
The primary method I imagine most banks will use is by sending customers a notification, to which they’ll respond in the app by confirming this is genuine (as Monzo already rolled out some time ago). The fallback to this will certainly be by sending customers a code by SMS, which they’ll then have to enter somewhere to authenticate. So if you’ve lost your mobile, things will get more difficult regardless of which bank you’re using.
I’m sure there will be additional fallback options (for example, email - or even key-fobs for customers who don’t have a mobile or are in a remote area without mobile coverage). However, losing your mobile is going to make things trickier.
If there’s a major problem often the 2 go down together, so having a desktop site isn’t much use
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Anarchist
(Press ‘Help’ search ‘Contact us’ or email help@monzo.com or call 0800 802 1281)
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This advice is becoming more apposite every year. From banking systems crashing, card failures, POS machines not working, there’re always contingencies to account for and prepare for. Carry as many methods of payment as you are comfortable with.
Exactly. It’s for that reason I don’t understand people who say they never carry cash, and even that they don’t bother carrying physical cards and rely solely on Apple Pay or Google Pay (although the latter two do allow you to add multiple payment methods). Personally it’s debit card, a credit card on each of the three major networks in use in the UK, and usually about £20 in cash. (edit: Plus Google Pay though I’ve probably used that twice or three times and decided it’s not worth the hassle unless I lose my wallet)
Does that URL really look like a legitimate online banking site? I wouldn’t click an address that long for my bank, it looks too much like a phishing attempt.
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