Long time reader, first time poster. I currently use my personal Monzo current account and a Monzo joint account with my OH. However, the only reason I haven’t yet gone full Monzo is because I am a Santander Customer. This stops me for two reasons:
I can deposit cash into my account at my local branch - without this account I currently can’t deposit cash into my Monzo (although I have seen it on the transparent road map)
I currently get about £9 cashback each month with my Santander current account and have made £120 in the last year.
I’m not too fussed about savings rates as they’re pitifully low so I’m focusing on paying off my debts.
My question is this: do I forgo the cashback and switch to full Monzo? As sad as it is to say I am eager to go full Monzo but think I might be being silly to give up on the free cash I am currently getting.
Thanks
P.s if this is in the wrong place please let me know and I’ll move it.
Having a backup account isn’t a bad idea. My Monzo’s account is my main bank account, but I have another “zombie” account (in that it’s largely dormant) for things like cash deposits, however rare they are.
It all depends. I know I save more than £10 a month by using Monzo as it’s easier to see where I’m wasting money.
You could get paid into Santander and transfer it all over to keep the free cash
Now that you mention it I have a dormant Tesco Bank account that I could have as my ‘zombie’ account. Do you think I’m mad to forgo the cashback for the simplicity of having one bank account? I do have a mortgage with Santander but this wouldn’t require an app.
I’m a long-time Santander customer and have a Monzo account as the primary current account with salary paid in and all regular payments out.
The idea of fullmonzo can suggest “all or nothing”. It really shouldn’t be regarded that way. Santander won’t set the world on fire as a bank, but it’s got features others haven’t.
I’d really say keep that account, enjoy the benefits it offers, (including savings until you find something more favourable interest-wise). Instant notifications is the initial big change to normal use. Enjoy that too.
Where you salary sits is neither here nor there, really.
No need to do anything drastic. Enjoy the journey.
It will be interesting to see what kind of rates are on offer when interest-bearing pots launch - they are on the “Big List”, so shouldn’t be too long. Regardless, it’s always good to have a backup - which even Monzo recommend (in their help section’s “Travelling with Monzo” article, which says “Always take a spare card, just in case”).
For the cash back I’d say forget it because using Monzo will allow you more control over your finances and help you save more than whatever cash back you get with Santander.
Cash deposits could be a problem indeed, they’re on the roadmap but no idea yet how they’re gonna work and whether fees would be associated with it.
I could suggest maybe closing Santander, going “Full Monzo” as far as your salary & bills are concerned, but opening a Starling account as a backup? They have cash deposits via NatWest branches (free I believe).
This will sort out the cash issue while making sure both your main and backup bank are free of legacy rust.
Challenger banks are pretty low maintenance though; so I don’t see how harder it would make to have one open. It’s literally an extra app on your phone you don’t need to touch if you don’t need the backup account, but could come in handy the rare cases he does need a Starling feature like cash deposits or receiving international bank transfers via IBAN.
I don’t agree. If you have set direct debits each month. Mortgage. Gas. Electric. Mobile. Council tax etc then you get cash back. As they don’t change. You don’t gain anything IMO from Monzo/starling on this front. Everyday spending with the rest of your cash … potentially
What I meant is that overall the money you’d save having greater control over your finances thanks to Monzo (or any non-rust bank really) would be more than the cash back.
While you could indeed keep the legacy account open and pay bills out of it and use a scheduled transfer to move the rest of your salary to Monzo, the complexity and time wasted managing it (should something go wrong, should your bills change amounts, etc) is IMO not worth it.
Think how much cash back you’re getting and whether keeping it this way is worth it. Personally just the thought of doing business with a legacy bank would not make it worth it.
it depends how much you value your time, financial clarity and how ethical you are. If it’s a hassle to meet Santander’s requirements by transferring money around and having balances in different places (obfuscating your Monzo summary ) then is it worth £12 a month? That depends on you.
There is also the issue of ethics. Monzo will never be able to compete with incumbents on free money giveaways unless regulators clamp down on the “givers” of the bribes. It’s not something that might be in development or on the way, it’s incompatible with monzo’s ethics because they don’t lock people in and rip them off.
Incumbents give out £100 in free money to the average customer to lock them in to an abusive relationship and then overcharge their average user by £200-300. With their business model most customers pay little or nothing to get the freebies and a small minority pay thousands making it very lucrative for the majority of customers and the bank.
The only people who lose out are the small number of victims who are stuck in a large overdraft paying 60% APR (or uncompetitive loan, mortgage, credit card) and have the spoils of their sacrifice served up to everyone else as “free money”.
I personally don’t agree with it and they can stick their £12 where the don’t shine.
) then is it worth £12 a month? That depends on you.
don’t shine.