As we have started to go out to restaurants in groups again - we are facing the same irritation of checking through the bill and mentally calculating our share (which can easily be miscalculated after a drink or two). Monzo’s bill split feature is great for one person paying for the group - but then they have to calculate all the individual charges by person.
I’ve taken to using an app called ‘snap and split bill’. You take a picture of a receipt, at which point the software accurately breaks down all items in that receipt. From here you can assign each item to your friends, and easily see what they each owe in total.
If Monzo were to buy this software or create a version of it themselves (and integrating with existing bill split), I believe they would be onto a real winner.
It would raise revenue by:
Making Monzo premium/ plus more desirable by its inclusion
Increasing interchange fees as the person who has this feature with Monzo will likely be responsible for paying for all dinners out for the rest of the group.
What would Monzo / people on this forum think of such a bill scanning feature?
I cannot stand it when people are desperate to penny pinch and only pay for exactly what they had and not anything else or a penny more.
I’m sure your idea would get used but it’s probably quite niche in that the current bill splitting does most of it, so I don’t see Monzo creating it anytime soon.
It’s all nice and well not penny pinching until you have a two course meal and a coke and someone else has a three course meal, two sides (and they just have to go for the more expensive truffle chips) and a bottle of wine.
Everyone paying their own way is the fair way – or agreeing exactly how much everyone orders, but then you’re policing people’s eating habits
Oh I agree. But I meant looking at what I bought at say £12.50, £4.25, £6.40 and £4.05 and wanting to pay to the exact penny rather than calling it £30
You don’t need an app or an extra feature, just don’t be so tight.
And isn’t it just easier for everyone if when the person comes over to take payment you say “£30 for me please” and tap your card?
Yeah this wouldn’t be for small dinner, but large group meals and several drinks where the bill can really rack up and bill differences are substantial
I always work out what I’ve had and only pay that. 9 times out of 10 those who say why don’t we just divide by X amount of people, are the people who’ve literally gone all out on the menu and had everything.
Honestly I just wish restaurants in the UK were open to doing separate bills for each person, it would make things easier for everyone. Most restaurant POS in Canada allow the waiter to assign each item ordered to a specific person so if the customers want separate bills, it’s really easy for the waiter to do.
To be fair I think that’s not an issue. There’s been plenty of places that do that as long as you ask when ordering and they’ll do all separate receipts/bills.
I disagree, I think it’s reasonable. Some of my friends are saving for stuff or earn less for example, and they will turn up and order less to save money. Some also don’t drink and that can be half the bill. Often I’m eating on a table with people I don’t know well either. Getting to the end and then saying ‘let’s just divide it evenly’ is a classic dick move imo.
I think it’s different if we order food and drink together as a table, but if it’s separate meals and drinks then no reason not to split.
If someone is truly against bill splitting, I don’t mind if they offer to pay for the lot
I don’t expect anyone to split a bill evenly if they haven’t eaten/drank evenly-ish. But people who are desperate to penny pinch so they don’t pay 10p more than they needed to should just stay at home.
The point for me is, I don’t monitor what everyone on my table is eating or the cost of it. I don’t feel the need to pry or question whether they are ordering to save money or not, or how much they are saving. I just pay my own share of the bill and others for the same.
I think in the states there are places that actually tally individually and then bring you the bill separately, so you don’t have to go through the ‘what did I order’ thing at the end at all. A couple of places in London do that but not many.
“Are we going halves or paying our own?” and then if its the latter, then you can easily work out what you’ve spent with a bit of rounding, even if you’re bad at maths. My objection to it is when people want to pay down to the penny and have to get the calculator out, rather than just rounding it up.
Okay, that makes sense but in that case surely that leaves a lot of room for the suggested feature? I thought you were saying the feature wasn’t desirable / necessary.
It’s over complicating a problem that doesn’t really exist. It’s far far easier to just say to the person when they come around with the card machine “£30 on this one please”. The OP wants one person to work out the costs and then tell everyone what they owe and they all use their own card to pay still, which is just creating a (long) extra step so people don’t pay £1 too much.
I think OP wants to implement the feature into the Monzo bill split so one person pays, snaps and everyone gets asked for what they owe. It would indeed save time having to pay with 4-5-6 cards
