Hope this is the right place to post. I got my Monzo debit card today, I wanted to share my initial impressions with the onboarding process:
love the use of animations throughout
felt a bit goofy recording the video
process was super smooth
it wasn’t clear that the card had been posted and that I’d have to wait to activate it. Could it be “I have received my card” instead of “activate card”?
There doesn’t seem option to chat or get help during the sign up process, but only after you’ve activated your card
Why couldn’t I scan the card with the camera to activate it?
I was unsure where to go to find my account number and sort code initially, would be good if I was just told this as soon as it was available without having to hunt around in the app (it still doesn’t make sense to me that this is in the “card” tab of the app
How do I find my swift/iban code?
It seems I can’t schedule a payment if I don’t have the funds to make the payment at the time I schedule it. I tried to do this (admittedly I have not tried any other bank payments yet) for the 1st September (repeating every month), put in my pin, and just got an alert saying “Problem: Sorry, there was a problem sending money. Please try again momentarily”
Finally:
Is there an easy way to transfer direct debits over from my previous account?
That tab will be renamed as Accounts when the full current account app is rolled out. We have a very basic version of the UI during the preview & lots more is ready to be added.
You’ll need to contact the merchant, to ask them to transfer you until the CASS is available.
Thanks for the reply @alexs! To your point about being able to contact help@monzo.com there is no indication of this within the app, or even within the invitation email.
My thoughts (posted on Slack, but recording here for “prosperity”). Device: Motorola Nexus 6 Android 7.1.1.
CONFUSION: I downloaded the “Monzo Current Account” app from Google Play (“Other users also downloaded…Monzo Bank”). However, that installed the “Monzo Bank” app (Prepay is just “Monzo”). This led to confusion when I received the activation email as Android offered to open “Monzo Bank” and not “Monzo Current Account” or Chrome. I did pick Chrome as I thought the “Monzo Bank” app was the wrong one (the PP one). Still opened correctly… Could you rename the Google Play Apps (“Monzo Prepay” and “Monzo Bank”?)
On the SMS confirmation, the screen suddenly changed from “Enter code…” to the next stage without me doing anything: about 20 seconds later, got the notification from Signal an SMS had been received (and obviously Monzo had “auto-read” it: still a bit odd-feeling though as unexpected).
Reading terms and conditions, scrolled through (and read) to the end and then clicked “Next” which jumped to the top (seems expected to read them using ‘Next’ to go through each section). Again, felt unexpected/wrong.
When taking the selfie (yuck), the display seemed to be fish-eyed. Dunno if that’s common on the Nexus 6 when using the front camera, as that’s the first time I’ve used it. (others have reported it’s slightly common on Android, but not to the extent as shown in Monzo).
And from Tnash on twitter:
5. “with your CA signup, you really should warn, that clicking the link associates to the Google Account. I clicked my email on desktop:( Now the new app is associated with my work user, and that Google user isn’t on my phone :(”
It might be good to have a “tour” of the app features on activation. I mean this is the attraction of Monzo for me, that the “bank” is in my hand… but still, knowing how to navigate it would be handy.
There are significant issues with the user experience of using the card after setting a PIN in-app, which is why (to date) have not gone down this route:
Could it be that starling are getting the chosen pin written to the chip before despatching the card, therefore getting around the issue tom cited? That makes a lot of sense really.
I assumed the onboarding was done in the app, which is why I referred to the other thread.
As @rarther says, it sounds like Starling set the PIN in the card before sending it out. Sounds convenient. I guess whether Monzo will do this or not depends on how it affects the logistics of getting the card to us as soon as possible. Speedy delivery of a card is also convenient, so it might be a case of having to choose one convenience over another.
In an ideal world, both would be possible. I seem to remember that it has been mentioned that eventually Monzo might have an on-site card programming machine. Maybe that would make pre-programming the PIN with next-day delivery possible. But I think there were pretty significant (physical) security requirements around an on-site programmer.
Yes. The ability to change the pin in-app would be great. AMEX allow this and it’s a great feature to have. I totoally forgot to change mine before using my card a couple of times with the wrong number!
The onboardong process for me was very smooth. I like the speed of it all and the delivery of my card. I do agree that the “activate card” step referred to in the email was unneccissary.
It would be good to look at the terminology as a whole too. As Monzo moves from pre-paid cards to accounts perhaps “activate your card” isn’t the right step to finalise setting up and account (or getting your card sent)?
The animations add character and seeing the “OMW” dude is always a joy.
Completely agree with these points. Specifically around the tour of app features: with the addition of standing orders and direct debits, it would be nice to know how they feature in the app in advance.
Something else that occurred to me that would be a “nice to have” as part of the onboarding process: When the card/account is activated, an email to be received containing FAQs and contact details for Monzo - something that can be saved for reference.
On moving my salary payments into the CA, a small concern for a moment was that I’d be vulnerable financially if I had my phone and wallet stolen together - I wasn’t immediately familiar on how to freeze my card without the app.
I’ve seen there are plans for a basic website for online banking, and I know I can contact Monzo - but having this info to hand in a welcome email would be a reassurance I could get my card frozen in the quickest amount of time without navigating to different pages for contact details etc.
have not gone down this route:
CA, a small concern for a moment was that I’d be vulnerable financially if I had my phone and wallet stolen together - I wasn’t immediately familiar on how to freeze my card without the app.