Hi all,
I’m 24 & I really don’t know anything about banking at all - honestly! I heard about Monzo from my boyfriends sister and then researched (for too long/late last night) about the pros and cons. I created my account this morning - which was fabulously quick by the way - and have created four savings ‘pots’ (one for an upcoming holiday, one for money for a car (once I finally pass my test!), one for general savings and one for spending money for FriendsFest on Friday (this will be my general events savings pots and will be edited for each event)). Basically, I am fascinated by, hopefully, how easy this online bank will help me save and achieve my savings goals and if I need to dip in to them (for emergencies), I can.
The only severe con I can see is the risk of having your account frozen/closed, why is this? This is the main reason I am worried about fully switching my account from Lloyds to Monzo. I am concerned that something will happen, my account will get frozen/closed and I will lose all my savings/spending money in one go and be left with nothing for an unlimited amount of time. I have seen reviews stating this on trustpilot, Twitter and comments on other social media channels.
Please help, I’m very paranoid about switching completely and realistically, just need some reassurance.
There’s absolutely no pressure in to going FullMonzo and most would advise it’s not the greatest idea to do so, but not for the reasons you mention. Legacy banks are much better at dealing with physical cash and cheques and for this reason are a nice fallback.
If you read:
You’ll see many hallmarks of the what you have read on Trustpilot and suchlike. I.e. can’t feed the kids, I’m on holiday stuck with no money etc etc. Whilst I am sure there are false positives, they are in the minority and certainly not as rife as these places would suggest. Let’s be honest if it was true Monzo would be shut down by now by the regulators.
Monzo’s image is entirely online and is prime target for those caught money laundering, by trying to damage the reputation of the brand and spread falsehoods.
To further put your mind at ease, you’ll struggle to find a bank with a decent Trustpilot. It’s the worst platform ever for spreading disinformation and the tools to remove malicious reviews are terrible.
Thank you! Your reply is really informative and does help a lot. For cheques etc I have a joint account with NatWest with my partner so I can deposit these. Would you then recommend going Full Monzo, with a back up joint account for depositing cheques/cash etc?
I have been full monzo for a year now and I genuinely wouldn’t go back. If anything, the way Monzo do security is better than the old banks. They run a modern tech stack and that certainly helps.
There isn’t a way of proving that these comments you see aren’t duplicates of others on different accounts. They are trying to destroy Monzo’s reputation so they will do anything they can to achieve this. Whilst there is a very slight chance of a false positive, it’s not worth worrying about unless you are up to no good.
Having said that, I think it is a good idea to leave your old account open. Along with the things already mentioned, getting rid of your oldest current account can impact your credit rating
I used Monzo for a while as a way to budget. I got paid into RBS and that account which was my daily driver for 20 odd years, managed my direct debits etc. I then transferred myself money to my Monzo account each month. I used monzo to work out what I was spending on food, travel etc.
I recently took the plunge and went #FullMonzo and honestly it’s been a dream.
I used the switch service and it went swimmingly - no hitches whatsoever.
Way more in control of everything and I love the fact I put all my money to cover direct debits/bills in their own pot, that pot pays all them and I can see very quickly what I’ve actually got left after bills.
Would absolutely recommend but like others say, do your own research into it first before making any decisions.
But, as a customer, totally aside from being an employee, being Full Monzo has made a huge difference to me in terms of visibility and control of my finances.
The separation from our new Bills Pots features is really fantastic. Sweep away the money into the Pot on payday, lock the Pot in case I’m tempted to pull out a few quid here or there, and now I know that what’s in my balance is really and truly what I’m able to spend. Job done!
Me and my wife made the full switch to Monzo joint accounts. We moved from TSB taking our savings accounts with us into pots. Had zero issues and love the convenience. Have zero worries about using Monzo
Just in the process of doing the full switch to Monzo. I’ve kept it as a second account for spending money up until now but find the pots are so useful to budget it seemed time to switch.
I don’t believe in having one bank. If something goes wrong with the payment system or your card is stolen when you are away then you need another bank. Also you have to pay to deposit cash into Monzo and cheques take awhile to clear since they are posted.
That said you can use Monzo like FullMonzo by manually changing any direct debits etc yourself and keep your legacy bank for paying in cheques and cash and for back up.
I’ve been with Monzo for almost 3 years now and love it. However I still wouldn’t close my old Bank account - it helps with my credit score. Would others disagree?