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I (US citizen, freshman at a UK university) tried to set up a Monzo account a few months ago. They refused to give me an account, and refused (both in their app
by Gaelan 6y ago
I (US citizen, freshman at a UK university) tried to set up a Monzo account a few months ago. They refused to give me an account, and refused (both in their app and over email) to tell me why. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Ended up going with Nationwide, who are a bit behind tech-wise (they do this weird thing where they ask for 3 digits of a 6-digit PIN I'm supposed to memorize, which seems far less secure than a long random password in my password manager), but generally have been great. I tried to sign up for their student account, got told no and redirected to their no-credit-check account with no issues. (That's probably also an indication of what went wrong with Monzo.)
- briandear 6y agoMonzo refused because of FATCA. That happens with banks outside the US to “US persons” all the time. They should have told you that, but you can blame FATCA for the cause (passed during the first two years of the Obama administration.)
- Gaelan 6y agoI'd be surprised if that were the case. Their sign up path seemed to know about and handle US citizens (asked for my SSN), and I can't imagine they'd go to that trouble if they were just going to silently and mysteriously deny me.
- Wildgoose 6y agoNationwide aren't a bank, they are a Building Society, (similar to your "Savings & Loans"). I "bank" with them. Sensible. Reliable. Well run. That's preferable to the latest flashy technology when you are talking about people's hard-earned and long-saved money.