Help us test setting a default plan for Flex 👀

[michaelw90 (Michael)]

Yep!

@TomMills

You can move to an interest-free plan (Pay in Full or Pay in 3) any time before your first payment. After that, if you’re on an interest bearing plan you can still edit it so it’s shorter, but we’ll charge interest at your personalised rate.

[TomMills]

We haven’t started rolling this one out yet - @dinosm was one of the lucky ones that got it early when we rolled out to a small % of customers.

Sorry we missed you off change payment date… we haven’t had much luck on that one. I’ll see what I can do!

[andrew_fishy (Biggest horse fanatic in Leeds)]

I got it today

[GregSpinks]

Would be cool if Monzo did competing offers such as interest free for 12 months / 18 months on purchases. I hope this is indeed a plan for the future.

[danbeddows (Dan)]

They did this over Christmas by having a 6 months interest free offer. I imagine they’ll explore it and other offers in the future too.

[walderston (Adam)]

Got the email and finally set the default plan

[xnox]

@TomMills

It gives you the same experience as setting up an automatic payment on your credit card

@Revels

Great that this is here, but disappointing that I can’t set the default to 3 months.

The fallacy @TomMills post makes, is what the upvoted comment addresses. Credit cards offer interest free payment options upto their maximum timeframe (which for most is upto 56 days). Monzo maximum interest free payment timeframe today is 3 months (outside of promos) and yet not available automatically. Thus the Monzo’s default is closer to half the maximum timeframe available, which in average credit cards would translate to payments every two weeks which they don’t do.

So imho, it is an improvement, but it is incomplete.

[rarther]

@BritishLibrary

Isn’t this a huge argument against Flex in 3 in general then?

This feels a lot like when Monzo promoted itself as an overseas travel card before swiftly getting rinsed by everyone and anyone and their nan going abroad.

With these things where they’ve accidentally given customers a shiny thing that is losing them money- first there is silence while they look at the data and hold their hands on their heads, then a polite request to change your behaviour (in this case it’s introducing pay in 1 and making pay in 3 slightly hidden) , then a tap on the shoulder (in this case it’s defaulting to either pay in 1 or loads of interest as the only frictionless options), then finally when that still doesn’t work they wrestle you to the ground and take the shiny thing away from you and blame you for abusing it (awaiting this assault whilst I’m cradling Monzo’s £1500 stoozed cash).

@TomMills I appreciate you laying your cards on the table for us to understand why pay in 3 is being hidden.

If it was up to me I would just cut off the infected limb now before it gets any worse. Make pay in 3 free for premium users only where losing £32 a year on a £1000 flex balance might be offset by extra subscribers. Everyone else can pay in one or pay loads of interest. The only complaints you will get will be a few super users who got used to having a really long interest free period.

Don’t just keep trying to hide the loss leading option that is losing money because by hiding it you are going against the Monzo ethos of ‘making money work for you’, because if it is encouraging you to pick the second best option for you then it’s not working for you, it’s working for someone else.

[npc_06]

@rarther

Make pay in 3 free for premium users only

Yeah absolutely do not do this lol.

[Revels]

We don’t know it’s loss-leading though.

Credit card companies as you point out happily let you pay no interest on a max of 56 days, they sure as shit are not losing money. They know people will keep a balance, that’s why they happily let you transfer to them for 12/18/24/30 months interest free.

Maybe it’s all the clamour from people who want Flex to act exactly like a credit card and pay it all off at the end of the month that has lead them to adding this first? And obviously added on their own way to make extra money, maybe many people are choosing 12 months.

I don’t use Flex to buy my lunch or a haircut or a newspaper, so the “zOMG it takes aaaaages to press some buttons and choose a plan” doesn’t really bother me, so I’ll just continue on my merry way selecting 3 months each time.

I have no idea on how this was added and the tech behind it and I’m always loathe to say “Just do this…” because I know it’s never that simple, but suuuuurely it can’t have been that much extra work to add the four options from the get go?

Maybe the analysis tells them that only a small amount of people are choosing 3 months and this best serves their customers. But I doubt it.

Making 3 months a paid feature would be terrible though!

[pigeon]

This will be amazing!

[venerable]

I’m almost certain I filled out the form, but I don’t seem to have the ability to set a default yet! No email etc… anyone else?

[Revels]

The deadline was 5pm yesterday.

[venerable]

Only mentioned it because I saw loads of others got the feature

[npc_06]

Should be this week at some point hopefully.

[BurnyCubbers77 (Burny)]

I got this last week without signing up and was wondering why… I think it’s cos I’ve got the physical card?

I don’t have the change payment date option though as I haven’t had chance to pop here as of late and missed out. Not that I need to change it cos it’s already set to payday… lol

With regards to this, I’ve set it to “minimum payment” but have yet to use my card as I don’t use it for everyday spending.

[HoldenCarver (Nick)]

@Revels

We don’t know it’s loss-leading though

Didn’t Theo lay out the sums on the table the other day demonstrating how Monzo lose money on the pay in three?

Hang on…

Here:

Help us test setting a default plan for Flex

Unfortunately - It doesn’t benefit us When we lend customers money - this is money that’s no longer sitting in the Bank of England. So for example if you have a £100 Flex balance which is all interest free. Right now that costs us £100 * 4.25% = £4.25 per year. So if you imagine the following scenario: You have a £100 interest free Flex balance and therefore an extra £100 sat in a 3.2% savings account. Monzo’s P&L would look like: + £100 * 4.25% from the BoE interest we earn on th…

[Revels]

I meant overall. Do they make more in interest from people who select 6/12 months make them more than 3 months cost them.

I would guess not or I don’t think they’d be rolling it out further. Especially with free cards for everyone!

[NickyPreston]

Hmm I closed my flex as it wasn’t showing on my credit report and the transactions never stated where I made the purchase. Just an amount i had flexed. It’s a great concept though and great Monzo have addressed a few of the issues people were having.

[npc_06]

@BurnyCubbers77

I got this last week without signing up and was wondering why… I think it’s cos I’ve got the physical card?

Pretty sure it’s not connected as many of us here got the card day one and don’t have the default payment option yet.