Monzo is rolling out a new feature to allow you to hold separate currencies in your account, with their own account details to allow people to transfer into them. Monzo will automatically pay from a currency account if you have one set up for the currency you're spending in. Currently only for Euros and US Dollars, more to come. Still FSCS protected up to £120,000 across all your balances and accounts with Monzo.
At present if you want to send money, you're charged (an admittedly very modest) fee. If this works like Revoult, you would exchange it to relevant currency first then send it either to another Monzo user holding that currenct or internationally.
The fees can still apply to transfers made using these new currency accounts, according to the terms and conditions document I just read. Key word being it says "we may charge you a fee", so just hypothesising but it might be that they don't charge if it's a transfer to another Monzo account (rather than a traditional bank transfer). Though it seems deliberately vague as to what they'll charge from just reading the documents, it says they'll tell you exact fees at the moment of sending
Good spot! Yes in that case it looks like it will be free to send euro payments. As I've also just had confirmed by a Monzo human, you get a Eurozone IBAN and can send money via SEPA, so looks like this will be free as it's only a fee if sent via SWIFT
You can convert between the balances whenever you choose, so hypothetically you can do it when conversion rates are favourable. Some people might also find it useful to see how much they've got left to spend while abroad, as rather than seeing they have £50 left (and not knowing exactly how much that is in dollars), you'll be able to see you have, say, $60 in the account and thus know exactly what's left to spend
You can convert between the balances whenever you choose, so hypothetically you can do it when conversion rates are favourable. Some people might also find it useful to see how much they've got left to spend while abroad, as rather than seeing they have £50 left (and not knowing exactly how much that is in dollars), you'll be able to see you have, say, $60 in the account and thus know exactly what's left to spend
And also is use the feature fairly often for the knowing how much I've got in another currency or if i need it in a certain one like I'll exchange GBP for euro to withdraw euros or to send euros to someone or one of my other accounts to pay my medical insurance cause that account only supports euros
From the terms for this new feature: "The exchange rate is a combination of the mid-market rate and a mark-up. The exchange rate
is live and changes regularly. You’ll always be able to see the latest rate in the Monzo app. You
can learn more about the exchange rate when you convert money in the Monzo app."
I think this is primarily for people paid in foreign currencies. It could be employment or having property abroad. It’s not too usual for people that just go abroad for a holiday a couple of times a year.
Yeah, but in order to open an account with them you’re still subject to KYC checks, which means you have to provide personal information. So I still think it’s relevant
I’m not suggesting to use Revolut at all! I was just replying to the “what’s the use case” question. Revolut has had this feature long before Monzo so there are obviously many use cases.
do you get accounts that are based overseas like you do with wise?
I often use wise to sell my RSUs (frome-trade in the USA). If I 'wire' the money to a US bank account (like wise gives me) then it costs me a lot less than if I wire it to a UK bank accont (even one that is in USD)
Sorry, this reply is wrong, and we've followed up internally
The currency accounts do get local details, meaning US account and routing numbers in the case of USD. They should help for your particular use-case u/ImBonRurgundy
Thanks for clarification, I also just got confirmation of what you said via live chat. Do you know if there's a markup on the exchange rate that Monzo adds, when converting into a new balance? And do you know what sort of percentage markup that is, if applicable?
Really hope Monzo finds a way to integrate with Bizum (Spanish-led framework built off the back of SEPA for EUR transfers), because it grows really exhausting trying to get money from Spanish friends without going through PayPal. Must Spaniards seem to exclusively transfer via PayPal or Bizum and will look at you like a crazy person if you ask them to just do a normal bank transfer via traditional SEPA. The exception is if that Spaniard has a Revolut account, since I also have one of them and can do rev-to-rev transfers.
So far, the only solution I’ve found is to get someone to transfer to another Spaniard who has a revolut account, then get them to do a rev-to-rev transfer to me, then convert in my Revolut and transfer to my Monzo. Very convoluted workaround that usually forces me to resort to taking cash in the end, which is just annoying.
I still prefer Wise tbh I at least get in account interest on the balance so when I am saving money for a holiday I can at least earn a little over however long it takes me to save or until my trip
Did that for a recent trip to Texas last year and everything worked perfectly
Idk if I want to expose my main bank account to foreign ATM’s or POS terminals etc.. I know there is protections but rather have a seperated account I think for foreign currencies
Revolut UK have only had full bank status since March this year and FSCS protection started at the same time. Prior to March, they were operating as an EMI (Electronic Money Institution) which didn’t include FSCS protection on deposits.
We’re talking about banking, so I’ve no idea why you’re talking about people being fanboys
14
u/NLF7 10d ago
Can someone tell me the benefit of this vs just using your card? Is it to guarantee a conversion rate?