It’s now possible to reverse a payment if you made a mistake with the amount you sent, who you sent it to, or the fact that you sent it at all.
We’ll give you 15 seconds to undo a payment by default but you can set it to 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds or 60 seconds.
If undoing payments sounds like science fiction – the banking equivalent to the Men in Black neuralyzer – that’s because it sort of is.
From today, Monzo customers will be the first (in the banking industry, ever) to see the option to undo a bank transfer if they made a mistake of some kind. For example, sending the wrong amount or sending money to the wrong person.
Payment mistakes can be tough to deal with
According to research by Moneyhub, 1 in 10 people in the UK have accidentally sent money to the wrong person.
Punching in an extra 0 isn’t the same as buying the wrong size socks or mistaking con gas for sin gas. Making a mistake with a payment can have big consequences; consequences that are often hard to roll back.
Trying to retrieve the money is usually a long and quite painful process, with no guarantee you’ll actually get anything back at the end. Depending on how much money you sent, you might not be able to pay bills, or you could go into debt. The anxiety that comes with that can be extremely tough to deal with.
By giving you an opportunity to correct a mistake you made, we’re hoping we can save you time, money and stress.
How to undo a payment
Imagine you’ve just made a bank transfer using the ‘Pay someone’ button but straight away you notice a mistake. Here’s what happens next.
You’ll see a timer at the top of the payment confirmation screen with the option to undo the payment.
You can tap the ‘Undo payment’ button from there, or you can undo the payment from the Home screen or payment detail screen (as long as the 15-second timer hasn’t run out).
As soon as you hit that button we stop the payment from being sent. The money never leaves your account.
And that’s it. It’s really that simple. The person or business you were paying won’t even know that you almost sent them the money.
Set the timer to what feels best for you
The undo timer’s set to 15 seconds by default but you can set it to 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds or 60 seconds. Just head to Settings and then Privacy & Security to make the change.
You don’t have to have this turned on if you don’t want to
We think it’s a really handy thing to have switched on in case you need it. But, we also know that not everyone will want the bank transfers they make to be delayed, even for a short period of time.
So, if you don’t want the option to undo payments, you don’t have to. Just head to Settings and then Privacy & Security to turn it on or off.
We’re rolling it out slowly to check it’s working how we want it to
It’s important we get this right so we’re turning it on gradually. That way, we can improve it based on how people are using it and be able to spot if it’s not working properly.
If you ever want to turn it off, you can. Just head to Settings and then Privacy and Security where you’ll find the option to toggle ‘Undo payments’ on or off.
In case you’re wondering, there’s no selection process for who does or doesn’t get to use undo payments initially. It’s completely random.
Have you used it? Let us know what you think!
If you’re one of the (un)lucky few who sees the undo payment prompt and needs to use it, we’d love to hear what you thought about it. Head to our Community site to share your feedback there.
To undo payments, you’ll need a Monzo current account. UK residents only, Ts&Cs apply.