love it, great idea Park38c and the other person that mentioned this further up
Option 4: Each user can select how they want to be charged for foreign ATM fees, by selecting it from the list of options within the app. The selection is then locked in for a number of months or permanently
This way, Monzo covers their costs, and each user is happy that they are being charged in the way that suits them best
Monzo wan’t to let us the community decide, so why not let us all decide on a individual basis
This is surly a much more Monzo way of doing things…
There are serious issues with that idea. If some pick the tarrif where they get £200 worth of withdrawals free the cost of those withdrawals is to be covered by charging others 3%. If however you have a pick and choose tariff method someone will withdraw £200 free on their chosen fees yet another withdrawing over that amount may be paying 1% under their chosen fees. Monzo ends up not covering their costs as a result and then needs to either revise their fees again and introduce higher percentage charges or perhaps a small monthly charge for the account
Surly all three of the available options are viable for monzo, otherwise why have them?
I see no difference between selecting one for everyone, or allowing each user to choose the option best for them
After selecting the option yourself, you can’t then argue that someone else is paying more or less than you are…
Maybe then, lock in that choice for 12 months, to stop people switching and changing to often to manipulate things?
I see where your coming from re the £200 free withdrawal, but who really only spends 200 cash in a given month when abroad? The cap alone will curb all the fees from the small minority that are racking them up currently
they may be all viable separately but if you allow people to pick and chose then it is no longer viable as then Monzo will not be covering their costs as their income from charges/fees drops if customers are not all on the same arrangement
The danger with any option that gives something for free is that people will play the system to give them the best deal possible. If that means taking two cards on holiday, couples will do so and will get £400/mo. Option 1 for me to be fair to everyone.
I got a Monzo card for travel : it may not have been Monzo’s intention to create a travel card, but it is a very good one! I have a current account elsewhere that I’m happy with, and I’m yet to work out how I’ll use my Monzo card for day-to-day activities. My Monzo card was brilliant on a recent trip : good exchange rate, instant notifications, separated from my normal account (for peace of mind if the card got cloned), ability to stop the card in an instant if something did go wrong, support a moment away, etc. Much safer than carrying much cash, but there are times when cash is still king - I tipped in cash to ensure that the card didn’t get charged twice, and some tips had to be in cash.
My option 4 is a variant on the loyalty scheme various people have suggested…
Introduce a “Monzo value” (MV) to each account to provide transparency on the profits/costs and display in the App. For anything that earns Monzo money (interest on the balance on the account, transactions, etc) add that amount to the MV. Anything that costs Monzo money (ATM fees, annual costs, etc.) reduces the MV. Users incur charges when the MV is below a threshold, Monzo provides some benefit (shares? interest?) if the MV exceeds an amount.
This gives all kinds of users the chance to build up credit and retain the current “free” services - people just wanting a travel card and wanting free access to cash can leave a balance on there, regular UK users build credit during normal usage. The people penalised are the ones who cost Monzo money.
Most importantly, Monzo can limit their costs to ensure that the business model is sound.
I would rather have a flat rate 1.5% across everything or a monthly fee for high limit / no charges. Different rates, rates coming in after an amount has been withdrawn is everything I don’t like about these kinds of things, just keep it simple.
I think that Option 3; the one with which majority of the Votes are should be much better If we get a yearly allowance rather than a monthly allowance. Like 2400/year rather than 200/month.
Personally @anon44204028 I have voted Option 2, I thinks its by far the simplest, 1.5% across the board
Unfortunately it seems that if we can’t find a viable Option 4, as @RichardBurt says, people are not attaching common sense to their votes and we’re going to end up with Option 3 which only benefits people who will stay bellow the £200 threshold
I think the detachment of common sense was an unnecessary comment. Personally, I think the option of choosing is the best middle ground (though I think option 3 should be capped at £600 per year). If option 1, 2 or 3 doesn’t suit, people will move on. There are plenty of options out there e.g. Revolut (offering £200/month), Halifax Clarity credit card, Starling Bank. And by doing that, you are starving Monzo of what it needs, users and cash. At least that’s my usage. I personally don’t care about instant notifications and spending usage, I use my credit card for day to day spending since it earns me cashback, Monzo I stick a few hundred pounds in every so often and withdraw until I need to top up again.
Option 1 but with an option to “upgrade” to pay a flat rate per month if you are a regular user of your card abroad? You’d need to do some insights into those that would effectively use the premium service vs the infrequent holiday user.
I voted for option 3 because I think we are migrating towards a cashless society and therefore the need for cash has been and will continue to decrease worldwide.
As a young professional, £200 free withdrawls anywhere for any given month is sufficient for me now.
However I plan on banking with Monzo for good and eventually I too would want the allowance to roll over onto the next calendar month is unused. Capping that to £600 seems reasonable but I would be happy if it got capped at £400 meaning to consecutive months.
So I guess OPTION 4 would be a roll-over option 3 capped at whatever makes financial sense for Monzo
As an option 4:
What about weighting fees by usage in the UK. So you follow option 3 but your allowance varies with the amount you spend in the UK. To keep track of this and make it as transparent as possible you have a link in the app that shows you how much your free overseas allowance is and what more you would need to do to improve it. This way those of us making use of Monzo more regularly receive more of the benefits. (Also may help drive up your own numbers in terms of use). I think the amazing exchange rates we get from Monzo is a vital component of your success and so you should use it as the draw card to get more people to use the card more frequently.
This was actually a key benefit of that prepaid car and I think nobody likes when something is getting worse. It is like with phone/broadband companies that in the middle of your contract increase price for your package and change the terms regarding number included in your allowance, etc.
Please remember that it was normal bank account, the card was not always working (usually had issues in UK, always fine abroad) and you could not just use it as a normal debit/bank account anyway.
As for myself, I was using it more as a saving for travel / travel money card. I was using it more abroad, but I think mostly I paid with it anyway, sometimes took cash out as it was just safer. Possibly, I will need to find something different for this purpose but I hope that they will make some monthly/yearly limit.
We will see how the current account will work and what extra fees they will introduce in the future.
I chose option 3 but I think that still leaves room for abuse by people who get the card purely to use it when they go abroad. For frequent travellers doing short trip, this option works well. However, for most people, they tend to travel infrequently and if they are taking out cash abroad, its likely to be greater than £200. I agree with the suggestion of a reasonable yearly allowance and a percentage outside of that. Or maybe, there could be travel profiles that people opt into e.g. frequent traveller, e.g last year when I was travelling a lot, I would have gone for option 3 perhaps, whereas this year where I have fewer trips, I’d go for an option with a greater allowance for restricted number of trips.
I also believe that people who travel less frequently but overall may spend a similar amount of money shouldn’t be considered second class citizens here, which they would be with the monthly £200 cap.
Some banks (nationwide) have an allowance that increases based on your spending here in the UK. I would prefer to have a system where it rolls over but i can see how you can only do £200ppm if most people only travel a couple of times per year (i.e. you couldn’t afford to give everyone a total of £2400 per year). What would the cap be per year that is ifniancially viable? i think if it were yearly but even half that amount i’d be much happier.
I support Option 1… direct pass on of ATM fee at cost…
I think it might be worth offering a sweeter (at least initially) such as Monza absorbing 0.5% to show goodwill and hopefully encourage those that are just in this for the freebies to jump aboard and get into the spirit of what Monzo is all about…
