a friend got a basic account at Lloyds, which was a Cash Account as they turned them down for a Current Account. Only problem was the debit card only worked in Lloyds ATMs (unlike the debit card for the full current account) so they could not use it as there is no cash machine in his small town than a CashZone one in their local food shop. They closed their account and now use cash for everything!
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Thanks, helpful to understand a wider set of experiences.
On a side note, is there a problem if you need a smartphone contract to get a bank account, but need a bank account to get a smartphone contract…
You don’t need a smartphone contract – I’ve never had one and while I’m not the biggest phone user, I do a lot on it. I think pay as you go is generally a better deal.
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Not quite, anyone can buy an unlocked smart phone from various places cheaply, including the likes of CEX, Cash Converters, Amazon, Ebay, Gumtree etc.
Doesn’t need to be new. Much easier then to get a sim only plan from a number of mobile networks, or PAYG sims.
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I don’t have a contract phone myself, I use a sim only plan and bought a handset elsewhere, you don’t have to have a top of the range device to do mobile banking, just one that can.
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That’s true, didn’t think about that. I hardly walk into bank branches anymore! How would you access online banking then? A lot of transaction approvals/ questions about suspicious transactions also need you to go through a mobile phone.
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Monzo have previously verified several users without photo ID using things such as deed polls, national insurance info, birth certificates, HMRC correspondence etc. A collection of this is usually enough to verify someone’s identity
You can. However, given recent soundings from Monzo don’t expect your phone will be supported for long by them. Once the “basic web interface” is out, I expect them to speed up Android version deprecation as well.
So, they’ll be available on iOS and the latest and greatest android. Not great for financial inclusion…
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Don’t know about android phones but for iOS this still stands. I’ve just checked and you definitely get an iPhone 6 for under £100 on eBay (cheapest buy it now is £60 with warranty), which isn’t going to be phased out anytime soon. Personally prefer iPhones and the good buying/ reselling value is a draw. But of course this is still an upfront cost that might be too much for some people.
I did not know that. Still: iPhone 6 will end receiving support soon. I don’t think I’d suggest buying it anymore.
I also still find it a bit weird talking about financial inclusion and “helping everyone access the financial world” if you are one of the most restrictive banks I know, and have made public comments indicating you wish to further restrict access soon (and, yes, I know: no timeline has been set).
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Would love to hear more about your work Scott! I work in the Vulnerable Customers team. Feel free to drop me an email at natalie@monzo.com 
I can’t speak for your specific library authority, but in general it should still be the case that libraries have public access computers that can be used free of charge. There was a big push to advertising and increasing library computers when the Jobcentre moved to having an online portal. For many it is now impossible to sign on without having a computer, and if they don’t have one at home then library computers are invaluable to them. Some libraries also work with the Jobcentre to run ‘Job Clubs’ where an advisor from the Jobcentre is on hand to assist people with logging in to their account and using it.
That said, I do agree that library computers should perhaps be considered a last resort, especially if they are actually computers as opposed to network boxes - with the latter at least you can be more confident that once you’ve logged off no data remains locally. Again, while I can’t speak for your specific library service, the computers should wipe themselves between users.
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In some places Churches actually provide computers for free use by the general public. A local Church here has all sort of services available inside (Cafe, Children’s Centre, PCs, GP), and even offers regular IT courses, which I have to say makes it a more useful place than the library which is old and scruffy and almost always closed.
Sorry for this off topic post, but I just really love what those guys offer…
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I was just about to like your post for recommending churches as other places that could offer computer access, but then I saw what you had to say about libraries 
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Does it help, that I only spoke about “the library”, not “libraries”? I don’t mean to bad mouth libraries in general (I used to read a lot when I was younger, and visited libraries almost every other week - though that was in a different country. At some stage I had literally read every book that remotely interested me…)
The central library, which is a bit further away in the town centre, is quite alright, but we have a local “branch” that’s just down the road from us, and sadly it is a depressing place to visit 
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It does, and I do apologise for not having read carefully enough to notice the distinction the first time around. I’m sorry to hear your local library is struggling; unfortunately, since 2008, it has always been the smallest branches most affected 
I’m sure the staff at your local branch are doing their best, but their hands are probably tied to a large degree.
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