I only got one to use when travelling. Unfortunately I’m away for 3 weeks in a place that prefers cash over card (some places charge 6% if you want to pay on card!!). So I’ve needed to withdraw lots of cash and monzos £200 fee free limit is too low for this. That’s the only reason I’ll use it though, full monzo for everything else 
I think that imagining that legacy banks can suddenly adapt in the face of a disruptive challenge to the status quo is like imagining that hair metal bands of the 80s could have started making grunge and been successful after Nirvana dropped “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
Not to sound complacent, but there’s a reason that Microsoft never made Chrome and Apple didn’t make Spotify. Years down the line, Microsoft have effectively been forced into using Chromium as the base for their new browser and Apple had to buy Beats and are still struggling to compete with Spotify.
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So the legacy bank will have to pay top dollar for a successful fintech bank 
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Oh for sure. I’d expect a handful of acquisitions over the next few years, but if we continue on the path we’re on we won’t be one of them 
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I agree with Simon. What is surprising is how, despite several examples of where established businesses have failed to do this kind of thing before, Bo still believe they can actually ‘add-value’ to Natwest by doing what they are doing. Perhaps they can, but it will be at a huge expense, and incredibly inefficient. It is a classic example of a cash rich institution with a complacent attitude and a relatively comfortable position in the market (currently), believing they don’t need to deal with this threat with any urgency. Kodak took the same approach in the 2000’s.
Also whoever did their marketing… awful.
Saying that, I think Monzo is becoming a tad complacent too 
, but that’s another story.
Prediction: Bo folds in a year and Natwest buy a digital banking service, perhaps one of the money management apps like Emma.
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What I find interesting about all the challengers (And I include Revolut/Starling too) is having the time to ‘try’ them.
I want my money organised. I got Monzo with no real investigation about competitors etc. My boss raved about it and I originally used it as a ‘spends’ card and now I’m full Monzo.
But to try another one seems like too much effort for me. New accounts, moving money around. Another app. I’m not going to set up direct debits to test how they deal with it. I can’t see how the app performs/looks without an account and money in there.
To me there’s just too much friction to even give one of the others a try. Maybe I’m missing out, maybe I’m not, but one of them would have to offer something really good for me to put the effort in to giving it a try.
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Unexpected so soon
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That is unexpected. Of note;
A spokesman for RBS did not respond to a request for comment
“You had one job…”
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Bó-bye! 
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I think the RBS need the new underlying technology so they can migrate their other brands over to a new platform.
They’ll appoint someone new and give them the budget I reckon.
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So Monzo can we buy you for 2 billion?
No dice.
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This is true but a lot of people have tried them and there are forum posts and websites on this so if people want to they can partially short cut trying them all
This is pretty funny and also very sad… there will have been people who joined Bo on the idea/suggestion that the people at the top felt passionate about the project and what could be achieved. It will take someone who not only knows the industry but also deals with distressed turnarounds to really fix Bo imo… its that far behind. I suspect Mark Bailie didn’t want his name attached to it when it proper sinks…
If they’ve spent anywhere close to £100m so far then that is disgusting… if i were a shareholder in RBS i would be demanding a thorough review.
But look how happy these influencers are with it
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God. How much money did you waste on this campaign.
Those pictures are like a personality vacuum.
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You’re not feeling influenced? Not even to buy a vacuum?
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Influencer marketing when you don’t already have a significant userbase is quite odd, in my personal opinion. Ideally with proper product/market fit and market traction you get shoutouts from a higher calibre of people without having to pay them.
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