I don’t understand how legally a joint pot is different from a joint account?
Impossible to know until we actually have joint pots. It’s just a nebulous concept now (to us). When Monzo release them, the implementation details will answer this and other issues.
Im not too sure myself. I hope as it’s not a joint current account, that there would be no link between 2 people and therefore no impact on either partys credit score. With a join current account the credit files are linked, so if my partner is always paying her bills late which is affecting her credit score, with a linked account it would also affect me even though I pay all my bills on time.
Legally, however, I’d want them to be linked so that if I die, my wife would have immediate access to the money in a joint pot without having to wait for probate.
Whether these two are compatible objectives is something else we don’t know.
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This from @mikef … spot on.
This pots stuff is, frankly, potty. Joint accounts are essential. It’s a fundamental basic of what a bank should offer. How on earth are Monzo not doing this and taking this seriously?
Loudly bangs drum
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Can you tell me where you’ve read this? It seems crazy to me (not saying it isn’t true, just how it sounds!). I can understand that if you have a joint account and she goes overdrawn on that account, it will affect your credit record (even though it wasn’t your ‘fault’ it went overdrawn). But if she’s late in paying a bill that is solely in her name, I can’t see how this will go on your credit record.
A joint account usually needs.two signatures of the account holders don’t they? A joint pot would be an account holder allowing another person access to a pot that the original holder controls.
I had a quick google and found these:
http://www.experian.co.uk/blogs/consumer-advice/joint-finances-credit-rating/
My example could be wrong, but its my understanding of how it works that they would look at her credit rating / file as well as mine.
EDIT: Also found this on Clearscore’s site under common myths
Myth 8: Lenders only care about the applicant’s credit history.
This isn’t strictly true.
When you apply to borrow credit, a lender may also look at the credit history of your financial connections. (Although financial connections won’t affect your credit score).
A financial connection is anyone you have either applied for credit with or whom you share credit with (e.g.a joint bank account or loan).
You should always keep your financial connections up to date, and request to remove old information with the relevant credit reference agency. (ClearScore customers can do this here. For example, if you’re no longer living with your ex, but you’re financially linked through a joint mortgage you can contact the credit reference agency to see if they’ll consider breaking the link between your credit reports. To do this, you must have been living apart for more than 6 months.
not always.
some require either one of the signatures, others require both of the signatures
I agree that it sounds crazy. When giving consumer credit debt counselling we had to explain to individuals (in England…not sure about Scotland) that in the event that they had had any form of joint account or credit agreement (e.g. current account or store card) a link is made between their CRA files. Following a divorce or separation they could submit to the CRAs a “Notice of Financial Disassociation” stating that their financial affairs were no longer connected
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Thanks for the links. I’m not sure if I’m enlightened or not! It seems that if you’ve applied for credit together (which obviously could be an account with an overdraft) then you are linked. But it’s not clear when future lenders take this link into account, whether it’s just if you apply for more joint credit, sometimes if you apply on your own, or always. Clear as mud, like most things surrounding credit ratings. They also refer to the credit disassociation that @anon44204028 explained, but again I’m not clear when the CRA ties are used and when they aren’t.
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It is as clear as mud for good reason. Every firm makes their own rules, point scores and judgements when granting credit, so look for different things on your Credit file. And indeed for different cards or accounts a bank’s criteria may change so they check different things for a poor credit card to a premium card, as a car loan firm may do depending on their actuarial perception of risk based on the applicant’s profession.
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Me and my partner are exactly the same, all our money is joint and we won’t be able to use Monzo fully unless a joint account is introduced.
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Another vote here for full joint accounts. I think Monzo should understand that joint accounts are not a clunky workaround (as the CEO has suggested in the past) - they are actually the clearest representation of my family financial life. We are single financial entity with no separation of either income or outgoings by individual.
Upthread, someone mentioned about untimely death and probate - not a pleasant topic, but this is really important. Absolutely the last thing anyone needs at the time of a death of their spouse is a lack of clarity about who owns the money, or any trouble accessing it. It would be massively irresponsible of me to move to Monzo until this is clear.
I know, I know, this is much less fun that emoticons and cute notification features. To some extent, its an indication of whether Monzo just want to be a cool bank for fintech hipsters, or actually something much bigger.
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We have a slightly different use case at Bournemouth Uni Cycling Club.
Last year we used Monzo to pay for our fuel and tolls across France for a big trip with 3 vehicles.
We’ll be moving to 6 vehicles next year which will make it increasingly difficult to co-ordinate club money across so many accounts. Joint accounts and multiple cards would make this process 100x simpler.
Ha ha - we had the same problem, but opening a joint account was going to be even more hassle. I ended up just paying it into a machine and it went through fine.
Blockquote We are single financial entity with no separation of either income or outgoings by individual.
I couldnt put it better myself. Splitting cash in my household into individual accounts would be a total pain in the butt. I understand that many couples do not have joint accounts but certainly in my experience a joint account is almost always present in those households with a mortgage or children. It adds a level of transparency and freedom to the household.
I do certainly hope in time that Monzo either rolls out joint accounts or delivers a service that acts like a joint account. It is one of the two reasons I cannot at this stage switch to using monzo as my main banking account and have my salary paid into it (the other been the lack of statements when required).
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In total agreement with the need for Joint accounts.
Me and my wife both use and LOVE monzo for our personal spending, but until we can have a true joint account where both salaries can be paid in to and direct debits and household expenses can come out of we can’t switch all banking across. It just wouldn’t work!
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Seeing as we probably aren’t going to get this functionality from Monzo anytime soon (or this year anyway: The Year Ahead, 2018). What banks do you currently have your joint accounts with? Any recommendations?
Barclays is great. They have a good and feature rich app and online banking (including showing pending transactions), very responsive 24 hour support (phone or in-app chat), and their “Blue Rewards” are a nice boost (especially if you have a mortgage or insurance with them).
They are the first account I ever opened in the UK, and still my favourite (over the years I also tried Santander, TSB, NatWest, Yorkshire Bank, Starling, Monzo, PostOffice, Halifax and Co-op. Most of them are pretty good as well, but in my opinion none of them beats the features of Barclays, and none of them beats the response time of their support in my experience).
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