maybe the US will get on board with convenient banking - Faster Payments
They already have. Itās called RTP, and most large banks use it. I can transfer from my HSBC to Chase instantly via RTP (ACH)
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currently, that is in fact my biggest (and likely only) deal breaker with monzo
Which is kind of the problem- itās not exactly universal. For example, while you may be able to send from HSBC to Chase instantly, the same is not the case when I send from Discover to US Bank (unless I use Zelle), my local credit union, Aspiration, SoFi, etc. Thereās at least one business day gap, sometimes two.
Yeah, of course itās a problem on initial rollout. RTP will be widely available when the fed and clearing house get their crap together. In my opinion there are still some security and regulatory issues that need to be sorted before it is rolled out to every bank.
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Sure, then itās threads like this whichāll be valuable to them as they plan their US product. I posed the question, as the idea of incorporating cheque books into the original UK product would have, likely, been unthinkable.
Very different story in the States, itās clear. Itāll be interesting to see how cheques in and out are accommodated for you in the Monzo rolloutā¦
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I have an example. I went to apply for a loan and the bank issuing the loan required a voided check. They wouldnt accept bank details from me, they wouldnt accept a money order, it had to be a voided check from my bank account.
I have been denied by 6 places after initially being approved just based on not having a check.
Second example - when I was a first time home buyer my lendor required payments by check. I was not allowed to use an online portal until I had been a customer for over 1 year.
Third Example: Trade Services. Many trades businesses such as builders, plumbers, tree removal, etc. will only accept check payments. I had to pay my upstairs neighbor cash so that he could write a check for getting a felled tree removed from our driveway.
Its a very American thing, but a very necessary need here. Depositing them tooā¦ but thats for another thread. Telling anyone āmy bank doesnt do checksā here gets you looked at like you have 6 heads.
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Go get another bank account then? One with a check book.
If you need a cheque book, go with BoA or similar
This is the ideas forum ya? And Monzo wanted to know (further up) about the situations where checks are needed ya?
Iām not sure why so many of you feel the need to hop in to requests on the ideas forum and go āJust use another bankā. Most people donāt want to have multiple banks. If Monzo would like more USA users for their USA productā¦ Checks and Check deposit is the thing they donāt have that literally all the other US banks have.
Everyone knows they can use a different bank to have checks. Because all of the other banks have it. Itās kind of insulting to keep telling people ājust go signup at a bank that has itā.
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We know America is weird about this. But Iām just explaining how this impacts daily banking here since itās not a prevalent thing in the UK. Itās not bashing on Monzoā¦ its providing insight.
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agree, thanks for putting in the time to write up your experience. Hopefully the Monzo USA team consider it. Seemed bizarre to me reading 
that people with no daily experience of the US banking system are giving you advice on what to do 
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Having personally experienced the US banking system on both a personal and business level for many years, albeit several decades ago, pushing a new online-only banking service in the US will absolutely need in-app check support.
Fingers crossed 
- those in-bank lines were unbearable at times.
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Sorry people felt the need to try and tell you to ājust open a different accountā.
Your feedback is exactly what we want to hear (and specifically what we asked for, like you say) - and we really appreciate you taking the time to type it all out 
I went to apply for a loan and the bank issuing the loan required a voided check. They wouldnt accept bank details from me, they wouldnt accept a money order, it had to be a voided check from my bank account.
This one is super confusing to me - why would a loan servicer ask for a voided check? Obviously this is not something you were in charge of - but Iām literally just trying to understand the loan servicerās thought process. A voided check seems to be a guarantee of ā¦ literally nothing at all (maybe just that an account exists/has existed?).
Anyway the sort-of good news is that we have started offering a form of voided check. If you go in your Monzo app and tap āAdd moneyā then āAdd salaryā, you will be given a pdf doc of a direct deposit form (designed to be given to an employer). On that pdf, there will be a voided check. Now - this is literally just something you can print at home, and not a āreal checkā. But it is good enough for pretty much every employer - and maybe would have served the need of these loan servicers.
Second example - when I was a first time home buyer my lendor required payments by check. I was not allowed to use an online portal until I had been a customer for over 1 year.
Another classic example of America being America. That sounds like a painful experience, and definitely not something you could do without a checkbook. Will add this to the list of pain points that can only be solved by offering checks.
Third Example: Trade Services. Many trades businesses such as builders, plumbers, tree removal, etc. will only accept check payments. I had to pay my upstairs neighbor cash so that he could write a check for getting a felled tree removed from our driveway.
Funny enough - weāve been running into this issue within our team recently. We had a few people who have needed house work done in the past couple months - only to have the local builders ask for a check. Very real pain point. (side note - I hope the tree didnāt cause any other major damage to your property!)
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Presuming you wind up offering full support of checks in the US, what are the odds itāll get ported back to the U.K.?
Weāre not nearly as reliant on them anymore as you guys, but they still serve a sizeable niche that support would be nice to have on this side of the Atlantic too.
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Thanks so much! And I think that voided check you mentioned would have fit the bill. Similarly to how other people said āchoose a different bankāā¦ I did! Except I didnāt ditch Monzo and felt those banks were ridiculous for wanting the voided check, so I didnāt go with them 
I actually own a small business, and itās incredible how many people want to pay us with business or bank checks (we donāt accept them, and we offer a payment portal that accepts both ACH and Credit Card) ā¦ so I totally understand the annoying pains of checks!
Thanks so much for reading, and do feel free to tag me or contact me if you want more weird American check situations lol.
Edit: I lost my Mini Cooper to the tree 
ironically, giving me the need to cash a check from the insurance company lol. I deposited to my business account and transfered it to Monzo.
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Unfortunately, I donāt think us building the feature in the US will make it any more or less likely that things get ported to the UK.
Basically the entire backend of how to process a check is entirely different between the UK and US - so almost none of the work we do would be usable to the UK.
They would probably only be able to re-use actual screens you see in the app (like the screen that asks you to take a picture, and then the screens you see when you tap on a check deposit in your transaction feed) - but, relatively speaking, those are the easy parts to make.
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RIP Mini Cooper 
We will definitely keep you on our list to talk to if we need input on checks! And please keep an eye on this community, we are always reaching out for feedback on different features weāre building (recently joint accounts) - and weād love to talk to you about any features that you have thoughts on!
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Perhaps in the UK they can get away with that, but the US seems very different and much more reliant on cheques/checks.
If itās a deal breaker for a majority of customers they may have to bite the bullet.
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