Competitor update

Hi

I suppose this FT link only works with a subscription?

Any other sources for a similar review?

I think the FT allow you to view x amount of articles for free, within a certain time period but in any case, we’ve posted quite a few articles which cover Monzo & the other challenger banks with :newspaper: in the topic’s title. These search results should display the latest articles. I hope that helps :slight_smile:

Thanks Alex, most useful.

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Tandem Bank lay off staff

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Wow… being told how to run your fintech by a (random) retailer. That’s exactly what @tom was talking about when he said he doesn’t want to be owned by a bank.

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Some interesting quotes in the interview with Revolut’s CEO -

“Our goal is to get beyond banking. You don’t really need to be a bank and being a bank actually limits you. If you look at all of the digital banking startups, they’re all local right — only UK, only France, only Germany.”

So he obviously hasn’t read Monzo’s latest investment deck!

&

“Out of all the startups you mentioned — Monzo, Number26 — I think we’re going to get at least 10 times more compared to them, just because the different business lines that generate us revenue.”

It’s a shame he doesn’t break that down though…

Also:

530,000 users across 42 European countries after just 18 months.

Tom mentioned in this interview that Revolut offer cash incentives for new users to sign up.

Revolut … has raised over £12 million

Revolut is launching superfast peer-to-peer loans that will let users borrow up to £5,000 in as little as two minutes.

“In April we are launching travel insurance and device insurance, giving you wholesale rates. It will be 40-50% cheaper compared to other providers. We’re also launching a wealth product where you can effectively invest in different asset classes at the best possible price.”

[is] currently testing its business product with several companies and plans to launch the service in April

“right now when you order a card you pay £5 and you’ve got different delivery methods. 50% of users, they chose to pay for fast delivery. The other is interchange revenue, we’ve got fair use revenue, ATM revenue.”

[They have] 90 staff

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They’re coming…

Not bad, not bad (insert Obama face here). I wonder how it will work with various currencies though, Google is looking to dominate currency exchange market? :smiley:

This :robot: is not a threat according to the iOS snobs on this other topic. No-one using Android spends any money apparently :joy: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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This feature has existed on the web for years and still remains US only. :disappointed:

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Yes, it’s just made it to Android (for US users) today though.

The support page seems to have instructions for UK users though - for web use?

Hmm, you’re right. I can get the feature to appear on the Gmail web interface but it doesn’t appear to actually function on any of my Google or G Suite accounts. It also declares my saved Monzo card as invalid. :thinking:

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So Atom are making loads of headlines by having a saving account which has a better overall rate than the average ISA. Realise that long term the money isn’t tax protected.

Question I have, how do you guys think they’re doing that, is it simply by using their investors investments to fulfill the interest?

IIRC Tandem’s CEO mentioned that they are doing this too, in this podcast. But my guess is that this is a loss leader to attract new users & I doubt it’s sustainable.

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Despite the fact that their current accounts haven’t launched for the public yet, Starling have just announced that they’re partnering with TransferWise.

https://twitter.com/StarlingBank/status/841961337458696192

There’s more details in this blog post.

And some key points from this Wired story in the partnership -

The service will enable customers to make transfers from the UK across the 35 currencies available in the TransferWise app, including the euro, US dollars, Indian rupees and Australian dollars.

Starling Bank customers will benefit from foreign currency payments at the real exchange rate with only “a small upfront fee”. We are awaiting confirmation from TransferWise regarding how small this will be.

Tom’s mentioned that the current accounts will launch with an integration to international money transfers so my guess is, that they will be Monzo’s provider too…

TransferWise also provide this service to N26 in Germany.

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Atom are really offering savings bonds rather than savings accounts, they are not instant access, your money is tied up for the duration of the bond. Other banks such as Fidor have been offering similar rates, which just goes to show how the high street banks are really ripping us off.

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Even if that is the case, the best savings bonds (according to Money Supermarket) are all paying less than 2.2% interest so it looks like there’s more to this than that…

Atom just sent an email today saying “Because we’ve had lots of savings customers join us over the past few weeks, we’re now reducing our rates for a while to ensure we’re taking a balanced approach to managing our business.”

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^ If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Personally think they’ve already lost to Monzo because they took the approach of product first then customers later whereas monzo have built both together.

It’s like taking off 10secs late in the 100m sprint because you wanted to do some good stretches. :laughing: