Monzo card

Shakin_Steve

Just topped up with £100 and will receive my card Mon/Tues. Has anyone got one of these cards and can tell me how I receive my PIN? Are the cards widely accepted and is it all as easy as it's made out to be? Thanks for any info.

JMR14

I received mine 2 weeks ago and verified the card through the app, then you receive a text with your PIN number. I've used my card in quite a few retailers, the only place the cards' been rejected is when paying for fuel at Asda.

eDicky

I think you get your PIN by SMS or on the app when you activate your card there. The card works fine for me in the various countries I've used it.

I had the app open on my phone to check if I had enough balance when I was paying for my dinner in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago. The cashier was impressed when I entered my PIN and the payment was approved the transaction instantly popped up on the app, with the name of their restaurant and even a map with its location.

Shakin_Steve

Sounds very convenient. I don't travel but, I reckon, once I get used to it, I could leave all my other cards at home.
One last question: how much can you top up? Is there a limit? Thanks again.

JMR14

What it states on the app:
- Daily top up limit = £3,750
- Monthly top up limit = £5,000
- Annual top up limit = £60,000

Max single payment = £1,000

Shakin_Steve

JMR14 wrote: »

What it states on the app:
- Daily top up limit = £3,750
- Monthly top up limit = £5,000
- Annual top up limit = £60,000

Max single payment = £1,000

Ermmmm....OK.......I guess I won't have a problem going over their limits, then. :rotfl:

Thank you.

Anthorn

It's a prepaid card and like most other prepaid cards there are no guarantees so if your money goes to the wide blue yonder you've lost it. You could have problems with retailers and services which pre-authorise such as some self-serve petrol stations and hotels and payment services such as Tesco's PayQwik There will also be problems on trains and boats and planes due to it only working when the card terminal is online.

If you must have one so be it but there is really no difference between the Monzo prepaid card and other prepaid cards except that Monzo demands an initial top-up of £100 and it calls itself a "Bank".

paragon909

Isn't this basically just like the revolut app and card, Seems to be the exact same.

Shakin_Steve

I'll see how it works for me for a few months. If it's of no real benefit, I'll close it down.

eDicky

The difference between Revolut and Monzo is that Revolut has three separate currency balances and is intended for conversion between them, and foreign spending with those three and about ninety other currencies, and can incidentally also be used domestically in pounds. Monzo simply holds pounds and is intended for domestic use, and incidentally is also ideal for overseas use in virtually any foreign currency. Initially they did not even publicise the latter.

The main difference between Monzo and nearly all other prepaid cards is that Monzo has no fees.

Now that virtually everyone can have a basic bank account and debit card, there is certainly no point in having a prepaid card that charges fees, unless it has extra features that, for some people, are worth paying for.

So, the lack of fees being equal, what benefits does Monzo have that bank debit card don't have? The absence of FSCS protection means that it's less suitable for keeping your money there (although the ability to load funds instantly as and when needed means that you don't need to). Apart from the fee-free overseas use, I see only two possible benefits - functionality of the app, and security.

If the design and usefulness of the app, such as showing clearly and easily your balance and each transaction you make and divided into categories to show where your money goes, is better than that of banking apps (I'm not sure), that is one thing.

As for security, the Monzo card can be disabled and re-enabled at any time (as long as your phone has data or WiFi connection). So if your Monzo card can be loaded instantly as needed from your bank debit card (without needing to carry that card), which removes the need to leave any substantial amount on Monzo; and you can switch off your card when you are not using it - that surely makes it a lot less vulnerable to the activity of fraudsters compared to your regular bank card. Some may exist, but I don't know of any bank debit card or credit card that you can switch on and off with your phone.

Revolut and to a lesser extent Soldo take this further by having the ability to selectively disable different ways of using the card - online, ATM, contactless, etc. For example, if you want to make sure a clone of your Revolut card is not going to be used for a series of purchases in Brazil you can disable the magstripe.

Monzo at present has a simple 'on/off switch', but may follow the example of Revolut's continuous app development of various additional innovative features. Uniquely, at present there is not even a login process for the Monzo app, it simply opens! So does that negate its security benefits..?

So, apart from the distinct advantage of fee-free non-sterling transactions, including online, it's up to each individual as to whether Monzo would be useful. It costs nothing to try it, and I think the requirement to load £100 before they send your free card is reasonable, after Revolut's experience of giving out thousands of free cards that were then never used, much to their expense. But you can just withdraw the £100 anyway, if you want...

Well those are my observations, for what it's worth, please excuse the long ramble.

mwarby

Shakin_Steve wrote: »

I could leave all my other cards at home.

The current advice from them is, as it's still in beta, to always worry an alternative means of payment