Thanks it’s good to know that someone shares my point of view. You obviously have a great mind. Lol
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I agree with what you’re saying about students wanting free stuff. Yeah that’s 100% true. Who doesn’t like free stuff? At the end of the day, in the current market, it’s very very difficult for any banks to earn any money on current accounts. Most banks make losses on them , but it’s the extra products that they make money on.
At the moment monzo aren’t planning any real freebies with their account, it’s clever how they’ve managed to almost gamify the service, by making it a competition naturally you’ll want to win.
I don’t care about dividends or anything like that. My investment in Mondo was more of a donation rather than an investment. I care about the Monzo’s success I want it to succeed, not because I’ll get dividends, not because I’ll get a good return on investment, but because it’s revolutionary. It’s worrying the big banks, and it keeps the innovation going for everyone. So even if you don’t like monzo the bigger banks are being forced to innovate and so everyone wins.
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Back to the original question.
Using the Android version of the mobile app, I was able to top up with just £50 the other day (to see if I could). Just checked the app again and it looks like I can add money values in £10 increments on that platform. I will check the iOS version later but it looks like this is not an issue.
I think we were talking about the initial £100 top up to obtain your card though ?
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You may be right.
But an initial deposit of £100 does make a lot of sense - people (students?) are going to want to use that money and will thus start using the card straight away - and thus get exposed to the benefits as quickly as possible. If our notional student can’t lay their hands on £100 then how are they paying the rent or buying food (and more importantly beer ;).
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I am a student.
If the Overdraft isn’t free Monzo is a bad bank for Students. Every other bank offers at least a £1000 free overdraft to students, if not £3000.
The benefits that come with, say, Santander’s student account far outweigh what Mondo can provide in convenience.
As for the £100 initial topup it’s not really a problem for students who understand how money works (which in my experience is a worryingly low percentage). It’s not like you lose the £100.
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I don’t think monzo are wanting students to switch entirely to them. (I might be wrong) because they simply can’t afford to offer these sort of services, as it has been discussed before it does get paid for by a large amount of other customers.
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I think you are right but I’ve been struggling to see the motivation behind getting students on board. I joined for the international payments and user experience which are the 2 things Monzo do better than everyone else and for most students are probably the least important aspects of banking. For overdrafts, interest rates, benefits like a free rail card etc. others banks are just better options financially.
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I guess part of it is getting feedback from students about the product / what they like/dont like. As you said Monzo probably arent ready to become the main bank for students - there is nothing stopping then using Monzo for day to day spending and a second bank for overdraft etc though (this is what I do too! I actually use 4 banks including Monzo)
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hopefully financially astute students will realise this, and use the “freebies” offered by the big banks and as you do, transfer some of the “free money” onto their Monzo cards to learn about what they spend their money on before the free money has to be paid back and the banks money become a necessity of their financial lives that they cannot kick the habit of , which is where the philanthropic banks will come down on them like a ton of bricks wanting their pound of flesh ( or is that too strong 
) having hooked them on something for nothing offers.
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Yes its interesting question - like a lot of people, I dislike how if often ends up in banking where it ends up with having the people who can least afford it paying for benefits for those who can (e.g. those who need their overdrafts pay for 0% loans to those who dont.)
That said, at an individual level, would I advise anyone who needs a loan/overdraft etc not to take the 0% option (if they could afford to pay it off before the 0% option expires). I can’t see much logic in students not taking the free railcard, overdraft, etc etc if they are being offered (provided they dont rack up huge overdrafts that they then have to pay post uni - tbh thats pretty unlikely with all the 0% balance transfer deals around atm)
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I believe for student accounts most banks have a rule that you have to use it as your main bank. At least they did when I was looking.
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Looking at the Lloyds student account guide (page 22) (link opens a PDF), I can’t find any restrictions that would make it difficult to use Monzo, alongside a student account.
To have a Student Account you must be studying for a full-time course that lasts for a minimum of two years or
be on a one year access course leading onto a full-time degree. You can only have one Student Account with us in your sole name and you cannot have a Student Account with another provider. You must tell us if you are no longer eligible for the account. When you graduate from your course, or after a maximum of six years, we will convert your account to a Graduate Account. If you are not eligible for a Graduate Account (for example you leave full-time study before graduating) we will convert your account to a Classic Account (or similar account if it is no longer available). We will write to you about this, giving you at least two months’ notice before changing your account.
But NatWest are more strict (link opens a PDF) (something to bear in mind when choosing the account).
2 STUDENT ACCOUNT
2.1 Student Accounts are only available to individuals who are:
(a) completing a full time undergraduate course lasting at least 2 years; (b) completing a full time postgraduate course; or
(c) training as a nurse,
at a UK university or college of higher education.
2.2 You must use your Student Account as your main current account by depositing at least £750
every 6 months and making at least 3 debit transactions every month.
…
I expect they’ll make these terms more strict if enough students start using banks like Monzo, it’s not exactly hard to spot, all my account transactions are payments to Monzo now 
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I have also found this a problem. I’ve managed to get a few people signed up during my first few weeks at Univeristy and it has proven invaluable for me when budgeting. Although a lot of people are massively put off by the £100 upfront fee.
I think you were right with your choice of the word ‘people’ rather than ‘students’, as it not just students commenting on it.
However, rather than make an exception and reduce this fee for students when arguably non-students like the unemployed, those with young babies, etc all just as hard up for cash, we just need to explain:
Cards cost about £40 to produce
It is to stop time wasters getting a card but not using the account
You can spend or withdraw your whole £100 as soon as you have received your card
If we are open and honest about this from the start I think people less likely to baulk at the £100
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Think of it not as a fee but as a deposit - once you get your card and start using it you can get your £100 back from an ATM.
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£40.00 for a pre paid card with no name on it. Are you sure? Not saying that you are not telling the truth but why is the cost so high?
that was based on the price for embossed cards…but assume it would not be much cheaper for non embossed
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It is, I work for a company that used to issue physical (as opposed to virtual) cards. The cost to produce a card was <£5 so the interchange from £100 spend pretty much covers the cost of producing the card.
This is obviously the extreme example but Monzo obviously still wouldn’t want to issue 200k worth of cards & not recover some of that cost, even with their VC funding
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