I’m not marking your posts, btw, sorry if it came across like that. I was simply saying comparing a startup to a well established company is a little unfair, generally speaking.
And I can see that you would have that experience, I have had similar from time to time That said, they are a young company so I would suggest they get a little slack.
I like them, but they are very early stage, ala Monzo 2016. So don’t expect the same level of features of service that a fully grown bank can offer.
That said, I really hope they make it, they’re always nice to deal with (if a little slow at times) and I think one of the better mindsets in terms of environmentally friendly banking and sustainability.
They’re a mess. Customer support is lacking, and the cashback takes a week to hit. And they’ve got nothing else to offer. It’s not a bank so there’s no day to day banking, direct debits, standing orders etc
I decided it wasn’t worth the effort to transfer money just to spend on another card to get 1%/1.5% a week later.
I don’t really want my bank to be exciting. I want it to be stable and work. Boring can be good for a bank.
Unlike Algbra. It’s a card. A very boring card. Is it worth a penny the pound, one week later? That’s the million dollar question.
I sent algebra a chat message 2 weeks ago asking them to close down my account. This morning I finally get an email saying they have now closed the account! Wow 2 WEEKS! I’m sticking with Monzo for everything now. Too many apps and messing around with apps - not to mention all the credit report checks and history of opened/closed accounts lol
Algbra doesn’t report to agencies 
is why I have mine open.
They also plan to not be a bank, from the last comms I had with them.
Doh! Never multitask, corrected myself.
Ah - that’s new then because until recently they’d always said that they didn’t believe being an ‘official’ bank would give them many extra benefits.
With Algbra you’ve got to remember what they’re ‘USP’ actually is. It’s not the cashback or having a wizzy app, it’s that they’re marketing themselves as an Ethical financial organisation. So, they’ll attempt to give you an idea of your carbon footprint so you can offset it, there’s options to directly donate to certain ethical/environmental charities etc. They wont invest (not that I think at the moment they’ve got the funds to do it anyway) in any unsustainable companies, they’re a certified ‘B Corp’.
So, if that’s what you’re interested in and you’re concerned with other banks not taking this seriously, then consider moving to them. (I think Monzo and Starling do a lot of this anyway, Chase, on the other hand as part of the big US bank, definitely has a very bad rating for this stuff).
They’ve going for a very specific market
Made a typo in my original post. I meant to say they don’t plan on being a bank.
Honestly, if they offered DD support, and became a bank they’de be a serious contender for a return to FinTech.
I last used them on holiday back in August as a foreign spend card and it was superb. Plus a good ethos. But, I’m old school and without either being a bank or at least reporting back into budgeting tools, it’s a ‘not right now’ from me.
Yes, the fact that they’re not a bank and don’t handle direct debts and standing orders is why I can only use them for spending and not as my main bank.
I use them for pretty much all of my day-to-day spending, where I can’t get benefit from the Monzo cashback.
I haven’t had any issues with them. The app is pretty simple but I’m not expecting it to be more than that. It is what it is - a payment card with no pretensions of banking facilities.
Cashback comes through regularly within 5 days (apart from one glitch a few months back, which was sorted out efficiently).
I use the card in Google wallet and get 1.5%. For me, it doesn’t make sense not to use it.
TRansferring money in and out is handled very quickly and is hardly a burden on my time. No regrets in using it thus far.
I wonder what they will do next, I can’t see the incentive to use them otherwise. They are not a bank, so you actively have to transfer to them. Why would you do that if you don’t get any cashback.
That’s a bold move! As much as I like them, what’s the value of them vs other EMIs apart from wanting to be ethical.
I sort of understand it, the only reason Chase can keep it going is because deep, deep pockets and it was clearly their go to market strategy since nothing else has really been market leading.
For algbra though I hope it isn’t, this may be the beginning of the end. Or, they’ll actually extend it after all under new terms.
What will be their USP? Once the cashback offers go.
The ethical side is great but if all you’re doing is putting money in and spending it, nothing more, what does it have left to offer?
Nationwide can do that and it provides more banking facilities.
I’m not disputing that providing endless cashback is probably not sustainable without more revenue. Maybe they will offer some sort of paid option.
If they don’t evolve and expand or enhance their offering and options, I sadly fear it will be the end.
Yep - exactly. Cashback was never and can never be their USP because it’s not ‘unique’ in the first place and there’s no way they can compete long term with Chase, Revolut and now Monzo in the ‘Cashback’ field.
I know this is difficult for us here to consider, when we’re discussing this on a ‘fintech’ platform and people are very concerned with chasing the best interest, moving money around to squeeze the most out of banks but for Algbra you need to
I’m actually really disappointed though that they seem absolutely committed to never ever getting a banking licence. I can understand that that’s a very difficult thing to achieve (just as Revolut!) but the fact that they’re not even saying it’s something they’ll hope to get in the future at some point will always, to me, mean they’ll never be a serious alternative to other banks no matter how much you approve of their ethics and want to support them.
I have considered, in the past, about switching to Triodos, but there’s always been 2 things holding me back - one is that I don’t believe they support Apple/Google Pay yet and then alongside that it’s a £3 pm charge account anyway. As I very very rarely use my actual physical debit card anymore to pay £3 a month to not use my Triodos account is a non-starter.
Curious as to what for though. An ethical fintech? Or something else?
For the first I’m not sure they’ve progressed sufficiently to keep bringing customers onboard.
