It’d be good if he could respond re the lack of consultation on options here. Seems bizarre to me to ask us about foreign transaction fees but not this.
But again, transparency != consult users about every single decision either.
They’ve been transparent, they’ve said this is what’s going to happen and why it’s happening in that way. They’re even asking PayPoint if they can divulge more information than they already have.
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Yeah, OK. I guess I just don’t agree with any of that.
Transparency is simply the easiest stick to beat Monzo with for any reason and trust seems to go out of the window when people don’t get what they expect/want.
‘Consultation’ is the worst thing for Monzo to do (as I hope ATM fees taught them). This is a business, not a democratic repulblic and I hope it continues to be run as such!
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I think there are different views about transparency and consultation in play here. Personally, I don’t equate transparency (which Monzo is on record as supporting) with a commitment to consultation on fees or charges.
I might be on the wrong bus here, but I’d like these decisions to be made for me. Ask my opinion, sure - that’s what I’m on here for. And if I hate it that much I’ll take my business elsewhere. But ultimately I’d rather not have to vote on every new feature. Monzo has the data and the insight. I trust them to get it right. And if they do mess up, they’ll have enough feedback from all sorts of places (not just here) to fix it.
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Hmmm. Well I think we ought to agree to disagree, as we are both nice!
But I’m not using consultation as a stick to beat them with. I’m saying it’s an option. But when a vast majority of banks offer this for free, and Monzo then charges, I call it how I see it. As a bad thing. I do love Monzo but I’m not going to keep quiet when they do something that is just plain daft … IMHO, of course.
Great to debate with you, though, @Feathers … Top man.
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I thank you (genuinely).
…but this is a forum, if we disagree shouldn’t we go down in a flame war of some sort? 
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I’ll see you outside for that, kind sir 
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Elvis has left the building…
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I was so excited when I saw that in the post about what’s coming in November, cash deposits were going to be rolled out to everyone.
I got a LOT less excited when I saw the terms though.
At first I thought I’ll just keep my legacy account open as I need it for international transfers anyway.
Then I tried to convince myself that paying £1 for every £300 deposited would be worth it if it meant I could do it at 11pm at my corner shop on my way home rather than always rushing to get to the bank before closure. I’d essentially be paying for comfort. I can get behind that!!
My big problem is that £1000 for me is less than 2 months worth of deposits and if that’s all that is available it make more sense to keep my money at home and deposit it into my legacy account in 2 months time. It seems pointless to me to even test the service (and spend £4) if I am going to have to keep using my legacy account anyway!
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This possibly falls under the “unpopular opinions” category as well as this - But here goes anyway.
I think it might be worth Monzo really clarifying how they see customers using their Monzo account at the moment - I’m not talking about in 10 years time (as I appreciate the “vision” is very different to the here and now reality).
But a lot of the complaints over cash deposits tend to fall back to the whole “I’ll just use my legacy account, Monzo aren’t helping” etc etc.
I remember not too long ago, I (amongst others) were really frustrated with the whole “Labs” thing - In essence, there was just a load of confusion about what “Labs” was meant to be - Monzo treating it as an “early access” type thing, and the users seeing it as a beta testing ground (but getting disillusioned when nothing changed).
I can’t comment on others opinion, but since the clarification over Labs, I’m much more content with what’s happening there, and there is much less expectation.
So many complaints feel like there is as assumption that Monzo want to cover all of your banking needs (because that’s what we are all used to with our older banks), but if Monzo have a better idea about how it can all link together - Perhaps it’s worth explaining that?
It would then stop the reactionary off hand comments of “you have options”, and perhaps people will get more of an understanding of exactly where Monzo feels the feature fits in to the current state of Monzo.
It currently feels like the user base (or at least, the forum base and social media base), are not really understanding what Monzo is getting at, and just see it as a negative that there is a charge for something other banks offer for free.
TL;DR - Monzo could possibly set expectations over certain features to stop threads like this repeating over and over!
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@nickh I agree with everything you’ve said, expect the repetition part. I think if a lot of people are echoing a similar sentiment there is a value in hearing it out.
I fully don’t expect Monzo to change any of their services on my behalf, and after all Monzo is a bank. There are plenty of those out there. As a customer I have a choice. If I choose Monzo then I can’t complain when they do things differently.
By the same token, Monzo can’t be surprised if I decide to use someone elses services because they provide a better experience for me.
I really agree, having a Monzo Vision might really help!
In general change is always very difficult to deal with, so people will resist it. The possibility to deposit cash is great! I personally feel that they are putting a feature out there that’s not finished. Almost as if they were rushing it because they know customers (me included) want it.
It’s just disappointing, from my humble perspective, having waited all this time and end up with a feature that is not viable…but that’s just me.
The balance in my legacy account is roughly £2. I keep it open for international transfers and cash deposits, my salary, DD and day to day banking is with Monzo. However, even if they provided seemless international bank transfer and limitless cash deposit tomorrow morning, I’d still keep my legacy account open, for a while at least, to make sure that everything works as intended. Money is no joke.
Having a Vision might help customer realise whether or not Monzo is really for them or not and what they are willing to pay for it and what it stands for.
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Oh yeah, I completely agree.
What I meant by the repetition comment, was more to do with the fact a lot of comments are made without really knowing Monzo’s aim behind it - So we debate back and forth with no end goal.
If we had a definitive “Monzo Goal” so to speak, people could still voice their opinions, but the “guesswork and assumption” could be taken away from it.
I’d certainly not want anyone to stop voicing their opinion - Personally, I think it’s the challenging opinions that do the most good for a business like Monzo.
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That makes sense as the germ of an idea to me. Whether such a thing already exists or what form it may take would be interesting to know (open office or something written or both?).
I sometimes find it frustrating that many seem to think Monzo will ‘disrupt banking’ by offering everything that every other bank does. Which may be true. Or may not be. I don’t like the assumption behind the sentiment but I have no reason to dispute it or agree with it. That’s why I tend to fall on the “let them get on with it and see what happens” side which seems…unpopular at times 
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Ok - here’s my response.
First, the lack of civility in this discussion has been disappointing. I think my colleagues have exhibited a huge amount of patience, but it’s getting to the point where we’re thinking about closing the thread.
Second, handling cash is expensive. You may recall the debate about foreign ATM fees - we initially didn’t charge anything for this (extremely costly) service, but a small number heavy cash users drove a disproportionate and unsustainable amount of cost. Heavy users were withdrawing 10 or 20x the average amount. Reluctantly, we had to introduce fees.
We don’t want to have a repeat of that situation where we roll out a feature and then have to retrospectively add charges because of a small number of users. So we’re applying a fee that will cover the cost from day one. This is not a profit-making exercise. If we can reduce the fee over time, we will.
I do think the deposit limits are probably too low and we’ll aim to increase them after launch.
I’m afraid I don’t believe that access to cash is some basic human right that Monzo is obliged to provide for free. Monzo offers a current account with dramatically lower charges than any high-street bank, and the only way we can do that is by keeping our costs as low as possible. That’s also why we don’t have hundreds of branches - they’re really expensive to run.
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Thank you for your reply @tom and sorry for breaking my self imposed exile from the thread.
I don’t think anybody has ever said that Monzo should be obliged to provide a free account as a basic human right. Many people just believe that depositing money into a bank account should be free, some for the social reasons I gave earlier in the thread.
Maybe myself and others overstepped ourselves, but as always its due to the concern for your product, the perception of your product and because I think Monzo is doing a good in the world. To make Monzo more profitable, you want people to use it as their main salary account but all this has done is make me think of alternatives for my salary and just keep using Monzo as a spending card.
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Hey @tom … Appreciate the reply. I don’t agree, but I respect that you’ve stood up and explained.
I’m personally a little concerned over the quoted comment. I know I was very active in the thread last night but I don’t think I was exhibiting “a lack of civility” - and I’m not sure anybody else was. Me and @Feathers had a healthy debate and purposely “shook hands” (if you can online!) at the end.
I’m worried that you might have seen this the wrong way or that a passionate debate over an opposite view has been seen this way.
I believe, and this is a personal belief, I admit, that handling cash is a “basic human right” - or a fundamental function - of a bank that should be free. In my view it’s up to you to work out how to do that.
But I don’t think that vaugely accusing a group of a lack of civility when we’ve actually been ok with each other is a good idea.
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I have to disagree with this. I’ve followed this thread closely (and participated) and don’t think anyone has been particularly uncivil. I think the passion for the brand on one side of the argument and the strength of feeling about charging for cash deposits on the other has been palpable. This shouldn’t be seen as a negative.
It’s unfortunate timing for Monzo but when your biggest competitor (IMHO) rolls out their own solution for depositing cash with significantly better terms, including most importantly zero fees, this offering looks even worse. Also, that same competitor has managed to keep foreign ATM withdrawals free.
I think you could have started free, or a number of deposits free, then introduced further charges later if necessary without the same reaction as when charges were introduced for foreign ATM withdrawals above a certain limit. Last time round all of the advertising was around fee-free foreign spending and withdrawals, a core product feature. This was changed after everyone’s expectations had been set. By setting the expectations with cash deposits early on, I don’t think people would react the same way.
This is a positive move, though perhaps consider increasing them before launch so as not to attract more negative reaction from the wider audience?
I agree that access to cash isn’t a “basic human right”. It is, however, a basic requirement of any serious bank account. Charging people to deposit cash makes the product look more like the prepaid card it started life as. As for having “dramatically lower charges” than other banks, this is subjective. When it comes to foreign spending, yes. When it comes to overdrafts and (soon) depositing cash, no. In other respects the charges vary. Unfortunately this probably means those with money benefit and the poorer will end up paying more. I don’t think it makes money work for everyone.
I’m not knocking the product and I think Monzo has been a welcome addition to an outdated banking industry. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement and healthy debate and criticism should be welcomed.
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I find it strange that some people are classed as ‘loyal users’.
Surely that’s part of the problem with new banks and the banking space - people don’t change, they don’t like change, which is why new banks struggle.
We’ve all changed so thus, we are probably willing to change again.
I’m gonna hang around and I’m OK with the charge, but it’s the limit which is made me apply for a competitor account. I’ve been waiting months for this feature but I can’t take the 6 month limit which is too low for me (I understand I am in the minority).
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That competitor also has a very different business model which helps them cover these costs on their personal accounts. I don’t think the two should be put against each other, they are on their own separate paths with very different end goals.
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By that logic should we compare any bank with another?
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