That might work - although the reply I got from Monzo implied that it wouldn’t, because with the current account there’s no hard limit (I assume that if I overspend, I will just go more and more overdrawn).
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Awesome!
In actual fact, once your balance reaches 0, Monzo will simply decline any more payments that you try to make & although overdrafts will be available, you can choose not to have one -
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Hey Dan – I think @alexs has already addressed a few of the concerns, but I just wanted to add on top of it. First of all, thank you very much for bringing up the issues you face and how Monzo can help tackle them.
On the full current account you will still be able to freeze and unfreeze your card instantly, and the card can be topped like the pre-paid card now if you wished to use it in that manner. For hard limits, as you mention you would be able to go overdrawn, but that would require you to explicitly set up your overdraft (with a limit) in the app. If you think that could be dangerous for your spending habits, we’d recommend being super vigilant before setting one up, if at all.
Thank you again for sharing your side of the story here, it’s incredibly useful for us to understand how you’re using (and hope to use) Monzo to help safeguard you – this kinda stuff has a big influence on how we design the product.
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Thanks Zander. The only problem with using the overdraft is my hard limit is… I would have to empty my bank account to hit it. I guess that I could keep my First Direct account as my main current account, and only transfer as much money to Monzo as I’m OK to spend - which ought to allow me to keep things similar to at present, although it’s a shame as I had been thinking of moving my main account to Monzo.
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As someone who is prone to these late night spending cycles that brings the next day guilt and regret that develops into dispondency and dispair, one night will impact me for weeks. It impacts me and my family. For me any steps or measures that create enough friction in transactions to make me pause is highly desirable and welcome.
I don’t want a Bank to tell me what l can spend, but if a Bank gave me options of things like; temporary pausing card transactions, giving me an ability to lock my card over a time period, to prevent multiple transactions to the same retailer in a given time window would be amazing tools to have. It’s not about absolving responsibility to my Bank but it is about knowing someone has my back and provided me a toolkit that l can deploy. That would be simply amazing.
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As part of the budgeting process in the CA from what I’ve seen in the preview images, would it not be possible to make a daily budget - that can be turned on/off or readjusted in the app for a bigger purchase if required - so that would work as a daily limit kinda of like how Dan uses the prepaid account now?
I know having a daily limit of spending would help me stop buying things that I don’t necessarily need.
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I have just seen this article, any idea when this may be implemented for Android? The designated carer option would be invaluable to me while trying to get my finances back on track 
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Hey Kenneth!
At the moment these are just ideas we’d love to work on in future - there’s nothing firmly on the roadmap. It’s something we’re very keen to dedicate some time to in the future though and we’ll be sure to keep you updated 
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I’m doing my dissertation on how product design can be a useful tool in aiding mental health, and this is so great! Such an interesting read, and so refreshing to see such humanity in a bank (one of the least likely businesses to find that in!)
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I’ve just checked the app, but can’t find any of the concepts / ideas listed in the 2017 blogpost. Have any of them being implemented or are in progress?
Gambling block as an example of positive friction springs to mind -
that’s certainly a great feature 
but I was asking specifically about the concepts outlined in that 2017 blogpost.
Yes. They have an entire team dedicated to helping vulnerable people
You can reach out to them in app and they’ll work with you on whatever you need:
So, to recap, it sounds like between 2017 and 2020 Monzo have created a vulnerable customers team and launched the gambling transactions block. However, none of the design concepts proposed in that initial blogpost on the subject (review late night spending, create third party notificiations, monitor incoming amounts to detect early signs of hardship and choose customer support preferences) have been implemented.
Doesn’t look like it! I wonder if some of these concepts just proved too difficult to implement from a legal / logistical standpoint? One of the concepts in the post:
In a similar vein, it may make sense to allow a designated carer to help verify and approve your purchases.
Monzo accounts are for 18+ year olds only. I can’t wrap my head around how that concept would be implemented, as it strikes me you’d be diluting the level of agency someone has with their own money. Interesting concept though, and if Monzo ever roll-out accounts to under 18’s, perhaps it could be recycled more broadly.
monitor incoming amounts to detect early signs of hardship and choose customer support preferences
Again, I don’t see how they would implement this (particularly in current times, where so many people are suffering financial hardship) given the customer support function is already struggling with capacity. Aside from directing someone to possible resources, even if it becomes auromated, what value can Monzo realistically add?
Pure speculation from me of course. They’ve grown by 4m customers since the blog post, so perhaps they simply can’t implement some of this. Would be interested to see an update from Monzo on those concepts and/or wider work they’re undertaking in this space at some point.
I wonder if Monzo have considered something like:
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