I’m going to shamelessly drop a link in here, (where a few Monzo staff have commented and might be notified…) to a post of my own that would have been a complete non-issue if this feature were implemented.
TL;DR - If I add everything up it does not come to my balance, this has been the case over a long period of time, and another user reported having the same experience.
I hope and assume it’s just that something I did spend is missing from the feed, if I was missing much more (it’s about £7) I’d probably be more angrily pursuing a solution, but I am surprised not to have had a response at all, since 11 May.
So now theres a current account… Is there a running balance anywhere ?? Or alternatively does Monzo provide a emailed / exportable / visible / any other solution at all which has a starting and ending balance.
I look over the screenshots and dont see one…
I always got the feeling that describing and re-describing multiple times why a running balance data item is vital to an end user being able to reconcile thier account, that many or even most dont ‘get’ why its required. They simply trust systems to be correct rather than demanding the tools to verify it is correct.
and now my account has been fraudulently used… Monzo has been superb, frozen then blocked the card, and sending a new one to a temporary address…
But once again… How can I audit the card ?? how can I verify my balance is correct ?? Its impossible. As wonderful as the customer support I am getting on chat, I cant seem to make them understand ‘why’ we need a running balance, to verify they are right either.
In my time using monzo I have had an incorrect timeline right in my first few weeks use… and now a fraudulent access to the card… Both times I have to rely 100% on trust, that monzo is in the right and my balance is right… There is no way for me to check that Monzo is right.
So no its impossible for me… I am an end user, I believe a banking app should have all the tools, within the banking app, to check that money hasnt been stolen.
Now, and since getting my card, those tool have never been there… Theres a final balance, but there is no way to know its right, ever, and no one seems to think thats a big deal. I cant even make a support rep understand why it is needed. This appears a huge blind spot. The expectation of trust, without tools to confirm that trust, in banking where your asking to hold my assets, makes no sense to me.
We have different viewpoints on this that’ll never cross.
If you’re sticking with Monzo I think your best bet is to hope that they change their minds or they/someone created a web version that does what you want.
Failing that, you could grab the data from the API and do it.
I do have trust in Monzo. Even though they’re young, I don’t have so many transactions though that I can’t keep a general running total in my head. I know what I should have, give or take.
Give or take ?? Giver or take doesnt cut it in banking !!!
And the day you think… “hang on… Maybe thats not right”… How will you check it ?? See the issue ?? if your mind says your ‘general running total’ in your head is 50 quid out… How will you now go back and check ??
This is the second time I have needed this in my time using monzo, once it was 100% wrong, and never fixed, this time my cards been cloned or used fraudulently. Both times it is ESSENTIAL to audit the inputs / outputs with the starting and end balance. This is currently impossible.
The day I want to do that is the day I do it manually. Doesn’t mean I’ll be insisting a company changes their product to suit me.
The main reason I’m in with Monzo is that if I don’t like something about their app, there’s going to be a high chance someone has created what I want with the API. If they haven’t, well I’m in the same position as with my legacy bank but with the option to buckle up and sort shit myself.
You’ve been banging on about this for months with only a few people in agreement with you. Maybe it’s time you accepted it’s not a feature many people want, no matter how much you want it.
By the time the current accounts are released, Android will have feature parity, so CSV export should be available to you. Also, Hugo said above (post 100) that the running balance will be displayed in the transaction detail, so you will get the feature you need in the app, too. The prepaid card was always a beta with missing features, but luckily the current accounts aren’t far away.
@PhatPheddy Bear with me, because I might be missing something.
How is running balance going to help you spot any fraudulent transactions?
If you had £100 on account and made 3 purchases for £10, and one more purchase was fraudulent (cloned card, let’s say) for £20, running balance will be £50 and on a logical/mathematical level it will make sense, all transactions are accounted for and balance matches expenditures.
Running balance might be helpful to find missing transactions, where transaction exists, but balance wasn’t affected, or transaction doesn’t exist, but balance was affected, but fraudulent transactions - unless they are bugged (just like any transaction has a very very very slim chance), they will be ‘invisible’ in any export.
Call me cynical but I suspect if money was “disappearing” from people’s accounts then Monzo or any other bank wouldn’t last long. Not to mention, the plethora of tests that Monzo would have passed with the various regulatory bodies to enable FSCS protection, direct connection to Mastercard, statutory audit where as a former auditor I am happy to confirm that balances would be reconciled, to the penny, on each of their bank accounts, each year.
It sounds like the features you require aren’t available in the beta version of Android, but will be present once the full account opens and there is feature parity across platforms. So maybe 4 months to wait at most. If it doesn’t work for you in the meantime, maybe freeze the card and return in 2018?
When you lend a bank money the ability to PROVE your balance is right or wrong… Is not an optional feature.
Trust… feeling… an idea of what it should be… None of those are valid in banking.
Its also not required to have it rolled out instantly, just a firm commitment that some kind of system will be there… CSV output, transaction meta data, on the credit / input one… Any one of many ways. All thats needed is the acknowledgement that the ability to prove your balance is essential.
Fraud is only one aspect where you then wish to check in detail… But yes, your right its more missing or incorrect accounting within the banking. Something thats already happened to me once, incorrect timeline balances, and now with the fraudulent card use, verifying my balance is truly right is again essential. Thats twice in a single year.
The point is current balance is a function of 3 items. Starting balance, inputs, and outputs, = current balance. Without any one of them proving current balance is correct is is impossible.
PROOF is essential in financial services. Trust is not enough in accounting.
I would have really liked to have seen a running daily balance on the date lines rather than per transaction as it could otherwise look very messy.
On iOS this is now in the pulse at the top (not currently in the CA). I am personally not a fan of the pulse so perhaps an option to switch between the two options? Maybe some AB testing to see what users would prefer?
Though one thing I’m not sure about, the running balance will always be running ‘available’ balance as pending auths are always in the feed. While in some ways this makes sense it also means it will take into account any auths you are waiting to ‘drop off’.
While it is great these are included, it does feel sometimes like these muddy the waters. I would still very much like a toggle that strips out all auths, in line messages, declines etc. from the feed and shows only debited/credited activity. This in theory would be the legacy statement you would use for mortgage applications etc.
response at all, since 11 May.
