Biggest threat to Monzo in 2019

All the examples you give are long established players. Yes they compete so to speak but they all have their own ‘bit’ of the larger market that they occupy. It’s much harder for an organisation like monzo which is recently established and is still arguably finding itself to weather the sort of challenges that larger organisations shrug off. Remember that for every Apple or Barclays there’s 1000 others, some who looked much more promising initially, who’ve tried and failed.

I can see what you’re saying but then in that case it’s less about what the others are doing and more about how Monzo breaks further into the market.

I’m unsure on where exactly Starling/ Revolut/ N26 are in terms of numbers compared to Monzo. But I am not sure that even if Monzo is smaller in terms of market share that the guys mentioned above are necessarily big enough to “shrug off” things that may put Monzo under.

Overall what I mean is this sort of competition breeds further innovation and change - however do understand that as a relatively small service (compared to the large established banks) that they could try and fail.

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For my money - the opposite, competition is exactly what will make Monzo stronger.

Only with the stimulus of there being real alternatives for customers will the product thrive and develop. The same applies to any similar bank which plans to become a go-to solution for current account holders.

Biggest threat?
For Monzo, or any other customer focused business, that threat is more likely to be failing to listen to those customers.

I really don’t see that happening with Monzo.

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You seem to be on exactly the same page as me. It’s way to early to say that Monzo are the next big thing in banking, as much as I hope that’s true! I would have invested myself if I wasn’t in a bloody bunker without my phone when the investment window opened and closed! But they can’t really be compared to the established players yet.

As for the other ‘challenger banks’ I have starling and Revolut, but the only one I trust enough to have my salary paid in is Monzo, and the only card I ever get comments on and can then speak passionately about is Monzo. The other feel like banks that are trying to be different, Monzo feels like something different that is a bank if you get what I mean.

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100% - I really want it to be the next big thing and I truly think it could be.

But right now we just don’t know - they’ve grown ridiculously in the last year and I hope this continues (hopefully with the press re: crowdfunding this will happen) - sorry you couldn’t get it (I think there will likely be another crowdfund before an IPO).

See for me its comments in relation to “trusting” Monzo where it shows that I don’t think necessarily that its competition will be its main struggle - it is as you put it ensuring this challenger/ disruptor continues to do so without feeling like a traditional bank and genuinely tries to continue to innovate and be different! (I only joined the forum last week and this is something that is further tying me into the product - just my personal feelings anyway!)

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Oh and, in non Politics threat stuff, the iOS app is an issue, almost feels a bit neglected in parts, and if the main focus of the bank is the app, it has to be right. It’s the closest thing to a branch, so needs to be right

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Biggest threat to Monzo is profitability and liability to pay the huge deficit they are currently running. If they can’t do that then nothing else matters

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Completely agree with all four of these

Out of curiousity why do you have Starling and Revolut, why not just Monzo?

What is it about the other two that means you still use them even if not for your salary?

IMO the biggest concern over the next 12 months is increasing the % of customers that are “full Monzo”.
I understand their plans for revenue fall largely onto the marketplace concept, this benefits if it has access to seeing what you currently spend as a comparison.

I don’t see growth or any other competitors being an issue, even though legacy banks are adding similar features it’s always going to be a game of cat and mouse.

I think international expansion is an important one especially for the USA. It would be great if Monzo were one of the first to launch there out of the European fintech’s but who knows what the timescales are for this. If they are one of the last I wonder how it would impact growth? Obviously it shouldn’t hinder what they are doing currently.

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Personally I have Starling because of the no limit to foreign withdrawals and now free cash deposits (useful once get rid of legacy)

Also I suppose a part of me still expects it to get closer and closer in the next year so id like a foot on both sides of the fence for now.

They will converge more as time goes by, but in reality they will both be UK banking powerhouses. I feel as though they will have different overall functionality and will be used in tandem by many, to take advantage of the close competition and rapid innovations.

Each bank will offer up new perks and additions keeping a close eye on the other for inspiration. Ultimately it will come down to customer support and loyalty, which is massively influenced by customer service. The customer is king :crown::sunglasses:

The biggest threat I can see, from reading this thread, is too much of a focus on stuff that may be relevant to people here but which is utterly irrelevant to those outside the bubble - i.e concepts like “growth”, the “competition”, or being some “leader”.

Just because you don’t have the most customers doesn’t mean you’re not the best bank for me. And these very forums make clear that public engagement can be a double-edged sword - very easy to get a warped impression of what most people are thinking through the typed comments of a minority.

I have Starling and Revolut accounts. I have First Direct and Smile accounts. I have accounts in three other countries. I keep them all and will continue to use them all. Barring a major malfunction Monzo remains my go-to account and I very much doubt my other banks care or notice that this is the case.

Keep on doing what you’re doing.

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I agree with this statement. The crowdfunding was flawless. The server handled it well.

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Thanks Ramadevan. Just realised I forgot TransferWise too!

Absolutely. The countless time I transferred money from the UK to Malaysia, Singapore and USA . Good customer service too

I’d say the biggest single-issue risk might be a severe hack or data breach. While Monzo is pretty established to folks on this forum, it’s still pretty new and adventurous to most people. The fear that their money wouldn’t be safe with this new shoreditch upstart would put a lot of people off - both from signing up, and existing users going full Monzo. (To be clear I don think this will happen, I’m just saying the impact if it did would be substantial)

Second I’d say is competition from the big banks copying all Monzo’s features, e.g Barclays recently releasing freeze your card, merchant information; HSBC have savings pots now. We know here that the big banks are years behind but each copy threatens to gradually close the gap in user experience and plays into people’s natural lethargy to switch banking services. (Personally I think Monzo will continue to be successful at out-innovating the big guys, e.g. shared tabs this week)

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Judging by the email, notification, feed message, red highlight dot and item on the top of my payments tab that I’ve seen/received in the last week about getting £10 for a referring a friend, it’s not adding enough customers.

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Monzo’s biggest challenge is going to be scaling as they take on more customers. I personally believe that they should start same offers as legacy banks. Switch to us and get £100, provided you switch all direct debits and standing orders, and maintain £1000 in your bank minimum at all times. Having lots of accounts with low to no balances will hurt Monzo. After all, every account that’s dormant is occupying a tiny bit of infrastructure and a bit of time from customer support. That can’t be free since Monzo has to pay their employees. I do not know the numbers, but I will not be surprised if the total account balances go up if Monzo starts offering interest rate on current balance (rather than just on pots). Clearing out customer services queues by doing cross-team effort is great, but can you sustain it?

I think that is very true.

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