If monzo want to play the money markets while I sleep or have a go at wrigging LIBOR then good luck to them, I trust that they are more responsible than the ilk they are trying to destroy but am safe in the knowledge that my money is protected by law if not.
If you want interest on current accounts then maybe go with an incumbent or Starling who seem to be going with a nominal amount of interest- hold one hundred thousand pounds with any of them and earn just about enough interest to pay for a bottle of water each day.
Failing that if you are convinced there is an opportunity for āfairā current accounts which pay 0% on credit and charge 0% on debts then great idea! You start a bank which does that and youāll have me on board! I wonāt be investing but I will certainly join and max out the overdraft to invest the money elsewhere.
Will it be possible to disable overdrafts in favour of having payments declined when there are insufficient funds? Everything Iāve read here suggests Iām a lot better off using my credit card (which unfortunately is tied to me having a current account at a legacy bank).
I see. So since Tom was just on Newsnight (at 1:32 in the embedded video), explaining how ridiculous it was that banks are charging users for rejecting Direct Debits, Iād hope that Monzo isnāt planning to charge any fees in that scenario or if they decline a payment.
But it would be great if the team could confirm thatā¦
I have never been charged by Natwest so far, but I canāt see why I havenāt. They specifically send me a text to say I wonāt be charged.
Either way - I hope Monzo doesnāt do this. It sucks for the consumer because no doubt youāll be hit with a charge from whatever company the payment is due to, AND then hit by a bank charge. I donāt see any reason why it costs the bank money.
We definitely will not be charging any fees for declining payments or direct debits If you do not want to take out an overdraft - this is totally fine, we will just bounce the payments free of charge.
Even thatās not true, as just because you apply for an overdraft does not mean you will be accepted for one. Even then it might be less (more common) or more (less common) then what you asked for in the first place.
Richard - "if you donāt apply for an overdraft you wonāt have one, they are not compulsory "
Leon replies - āEven thatās not true, as just because you apply for an overdraft does not mean you will be accepted for one. Even then it might be less (more common) or more (less common) then what you asked for in the first place.ā
Technically Richardās statement is 100% true. He was relating no information about size of overdrafts, future applicantsā success rate or anything else.
If you donāt apply for one, you will not have one. Simples!!
Dear Monzonauts, thank you so much for your feedback and such an interesting discussion!
If you are keen to learn more about what our overdraft product, you have an opportunity to take part in our user testing, which will take place during lunch time (12-1pm) on Thursday next week (May 4th) and the week after (May 11th). We will provide lunch! Please send me a message if you are interested!