Back up card for backpacking daughter - advice

gordonbennet

Hi.

Can I ask for your collective wisdom please?

My daughter is about to go backpacking in SE Asia and planning to take her Monzo card to run her finances while away. I'm concerned that if the card is lost or stolen while she's away, or indeed her phone (which is needed to manage the account) then she could easily have a big problem.

My intention is to give her one of my cards - either my Monzo or possibly my new Bo debit card - to keep as a back up for emergencies. It will be hidden somewhere in her stuff away from other valuables and I will keep the card locked. Then if her own card / phone get stolen she can contact me (perhaps via a borrowed mobile!) and I will unlock the card and top up funds as necessary. Any verification codes sent to my phone I will pass on to her.

Do you envisage any problems with this? Will for instance either Monzo or Bo be able to detect that the phone and the card are in different countries and prevent use? Any other problems you can foresee??

eDicky

Mondo doesn't appear to have selectable location based fraud protection, at least on Android, in the same way Revolut and Starling Bank do, so there may be no problem with card and phone being in different countries. Perhaps likewise Bo, I don't have it to check. But personally I wouldn't rely on your plan of her taking your card with her.

She could open her own Starling Bank account and use that as backup or complement to her Monzo account. You don't mention her age but I assume it's at least 16 if she has Monzo, same requirement for Starling. Other suitable accounts exist if she's 18+.

A lost phone with the app doesn't prevent the debit card being used normally.

Note that ATMs in Thailand charge £5.50 per withdrawal on a foreign card, so payment by card is best when possible, and avoidance of frequent small withdrawals.

Of course, a few clean crisp £50/20 notes carried discretely are always good backup.

JGB1955

When my daughter went on her gap year we added her as an additional card holder on my husband's account. I can;t remember, now, whether it was a credit or debit card but it meant he could top up her funds if needed in an emergency, and gave her a bit of a security blanket. Luckily she never needed it.

ColdIron

For me the bigger problem with Monzo is the tiny £200 monthly limit on free ATM cash withdrawals. Starling allow a more practical £300 per day

PRAISETHESUN

I'd encourage you to either have her open up a second account in her own name or authorise her as an additional cardholder on an account in your name - don't just simply give her your card. Apart from that, losing her phone won't impact her ability to use her cards so I'd just carry the backup cards in a separate, but safe bag.

IvanDP

eDicky wrote: »

Mondo doesn't appear to have selectable location based fraud protection, at least on Android, in the same way Revolut and Starling Bank do,

Although a nice feature, you can turn off the location based security if you need to.
Revolut can also be topped up via Google pay, still giving you access to your main account.

eDicky wrote: »

Of course, a few clean crisp £50/20 notes carried discretely are always good backup.

This is always a good idea no matter where you are

Malkytheheed

I would want her to have a credit card. not just debit cards. just in case. Any carry some USD. forget £'s. USD is valuble everywhere in a pinch.

Ngozi

Malkytheheed wrote: »

I would want her to have a credit card. not just debit cards. just in case...

Best advice given, look at credit cards with zero fees on withdrawals/transactions.
Plenty of times i've had one card not work at a cash machine when travelling but my back-up one worked fine.

gordonbennet

The trouble is if she loses her phone she has no ability to control another card in her name. Eg locking and unlocking the card, receive verification codes etc. Whereas I can do all that remotely.

Malkytheheed

gordonbennet wrote: »

The trouble is if she loses her phone she has no ability to control another card in her name. Eg locking and unlocking the card, receive verification codes etc. Whereas I can do all that remotely.

I wouldnt overly worry about locking it to be honest. I had a CC knicked abroad and yeah they went wild with it. But 1 phone call to the bank and all money was returned to me / purchases were nulled. You wouldn't be out of pocket.

born_again

DO NOT GIVE HER YOUR CARD....

Monzo is a Mastercard. She needs a VIsa card as back up in case there are issues with Mastercard being taken.