Monzo, Tesco, Mastercard & the double-charge transactions: Here's what we know

Monzo is a popular online bank in the UK which offers banking services via its mobile app and prepaid debit cards.

It has over 4 million account holders but some of them have been facing an issue with transactions made via Mastercard.

As per multiple reports, Monzo account holders are being charged twice while purchasing from Tesco, a prominent multinational groceries retailer.

While Monzo account holders are still reporting about the double-charge issue to date, it seems that the problem has been around for quite some time.

This is simply due to the fact that the very first reports of Tesco customers facing the double-charge issue date back to September 2020.

The issue might be due to some technical glitch at Tesco’s end and not particularly with Monzo’s banking systems.

While affected customers have been getting refunds for the double charges, it is not a permanent solution for the said issue.

@Monzo constantly being double-charged @Tescoand @BootsUK through #Monzo and of course #Monzo is of no help at all. I’m just expected to sit & wait to get refunded which can take weeks. Cannot recommend this “bank” one bit.
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Now, Monzo has acknowledged this stating that they are aware of the duplicate payments issue between Mastercard and Tesco’s payment provider.

Also, Monzo further said that affected Tesco customers can expect a refund for one of the payments after eight days.

On the other hand, Tesco has now said in a response to an affected customer that double charges showing up could be due to reserved funds where the money does not get debited from the bank and is released within three days.

We do sometimes see a payment error with Tesco (and other merchants) which looks like a double charge. If you have been charged twice by them, you should expect the first payment to be refunded after 8 days.
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Hi Tom, I am sorry to hear that you have been double charged. This could be reserved funds. The money isn’t taken from your account it is reserved and is released back to you within 3 working days.
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Even though there are all sorts of explanations and acknowledgements from both Tesco and Monzo, it’s clear the issue is still causing a lot of inconvenience to customers.

Hopefully, the issue gets resolved soon as no one likes scrolling through their bank statements to look for small or big double charges and then raising disputes about each and every single one of them.

That said, we will be back with more details as and when new information becomes available so stay tuned.

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