I tried to convince some of my friends about it, starting by getting them to pay me via Monzo.me but unfortunately it didn’t work as I think the secure online verification process for their bank failed when trying to use it so they had to just transfer the money to my old bank account. I suggested this could have been solved by them getting but it felt like a bit much for a one-off payment when they weren’t so convinced.
Some of them did find the instant notifications cool, and liked the emojis etc, but not enough to feel the need to get it!
Then when going on holiday I managed to convince someone to get the card but unfortunately they put off getting it and so it didn’t arrive before we left - they were happy enough to pay with cash that they had left over from previous holidays though and weren’t too bothered about not having it…
It seems like some people just aren’t too interested at the moment, or maybe I’m just not so good at convincing people of the benefits!
This happened to me thrice they kept putting it off till it was too late, so I ended up having to pick up the slack. It’s so annoying to have them ask “oh could you pay by card? I’ll pay you back in £ next time” when they could have just got one themselves!
When I hear “I’ll do it in a bit” I know it’s not happening
I have got my dad to take Monzo to Lisbon. I’ve explained repeatedly, and as patiently as I possibly can, how the card works, the pitfalls etc., what to do in shops and restaurants etc. but he’s really not very bright at all - if it was a normally sharp person I would think it’s the early signs of dementia (his parents had it). I mean, he’s the kind of person that, although he has perfectly good WiFi back at his hotel, will take a €5 taxi ride to the train station to find out train times when he could have looked it up for free, and in perfect English, online (he thinks that all the foreign websites won’t have an English option). I can’t tell you some of the damaging things he’s done both here and abroad.
Anyway, it’s an excellent service and I’ve found switched-on people very receptive to it. The only blip on the horizon might be charges Monzo has to levy, but I’m sure it will be all OK in the end.
I got my dad on monzo quite easily. All his work colleagues were skeptical cos he paid £100 up front and took the piss, but they all seemed to go home and try Google the downsides but couldn’t and then all seemed impressed so he won over people himself.
That’s the travel card side thing tho which monzo obviously wants to move on from.
I can’t comment on current accounts because I don’t have one however I grew tired and did a full switch to Starling. Friends just watching me use the app was enough to convince 3 of them to open an account. They’re mostly sick of having to use a stupid device or receive a code via SMS to set up a payment. The instant notifications is “cool” as well though.
My Mum loves Monzo actually - I encouraged her to get one. Initially she was very dismissive but when she actually used it in the wild she was extremely impressed with it.
I think this puts a lot of people off. I know it put me off for a while. But as I had to wait I had to the queue I spent a lot of time researching (googleing) Monzo and found no bad comments, reviews, nothing.
I think it’s very much a word of mouth thing now. Doubt my dad would have signed up without talking to me about it first.
I have had no luck at all with this. People are generally happy with their bank, apart from on forex, where those who are open to new ideas tend to swear by Revolut. I’ve also been told by friends that Starling is further along the curve, and a lot more reliable. I’ve missed most of the Monzo outages because I only use it abroad (why use anything but a credit card in the UK?), but a bank in beta is definitely not a hassle most people can cope with. Roll on the current account!
Wait, Starling is in beta and they don’t have GPS replacement (thus outages). Starling plans to replace GPS.
Revolut is not beta, but also not a bank, they also don’t even plan to replace GPS. edit: After some fact checking with @alexs, it was actually Revolut who hinted GPS replacement, not Starling.
Starling is a competitor, but Revolut? Sigh! Reading their forum should be a great eye opener, really, how not to do customer support.
Comparing to Starling, whatever is missing in Monzo CA, it’s not far away, as it exists on prepaid app or is a CA functionality that’s so required that it will need to be added soon. Starling app seems so ‘full’, so many tabs to click on - that’s because they didn’t group it, they listed every single thing as a menu item.
I think the strategy for you would be to convince your friends that they only THINK they are happy with their bank - because they don’t have any comparison. I wasn’t unhappy with Barclays or Metrobank, only because I always made sure I never had any business with them in the first place. I visited Barclays twice - to open an account and to change an address. I visited Metrobank once - to open an account. Never called them, never spoke with them via any other means. I had account with Barclays for 4 years, and so far 8 months with Metrobank.
I suggested this could have been solved by them getting 
but it felt like a bit much for a one-off payment when they weren’t so convinced.
I managed to convince someone to get the card 
but unfortunately they put off getting it and so it didn’t arrive before we left 
- they were happy enough to pay with cash that they had left over from previous holidays though and weren’t too bothered about not having it…
they kept putting it off till it was too late, so I ended up having to pick up the slack. It’s so annoying to have them ask “oh could you pay by card? I’ll pay you back in £ next time” when they could have just got one themselves!
I visited Barclays twice - to open an account and to change an address. I visited Metrobank once - to open an account. Never called them, never spoke with them via any other means. 