Well monzo.me is way better than Paym because the payer doesnt have to have registered. Don’t care about Apple Pay, but clearly Apple would have targeted the biggest banks first. As for actual functionality of the account itself (as in something that was solely offered by HSBC and affects my ability to analyse, save, see a real-time balance, etc), I can’t think of anything in 20 years.
Edited due to flagging
Apologies, can see how this may have been seen as passive aggressive.
Was trying to say that by explaining it would probably involve several back and forth posts which would go further off topic and possibly end in a prolonged exchange of views
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Please can we drop the bickering chat and get back on topic? Thank you ever so much x
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No bickering from me, I simply asked a question and got not much of an explanation. I’m done anyhow.
Cheers bro, hadn’t read that. I love those behind the scenes blog posts. But I don’t think it directly addressed my query.
It’s interesting you mention Starling (I do have a point here that is relevant to the thread, bear with me) - tried to open a business current account, their system pulled an incomplete name from companies house, I started a chat about it, their chat is useless so by the time they reply it has auto closed the chat because they’ve not heard from me ‘recently’ (I was waiting for them!), then I figure out how to reply in a different chat/messaging interface, and I’ve now heard nothing for a couple of days. As it goes, annoying as the lately seemingly glacial pace is in terms of front-facing features, I do prefer my features better tested and well supported… 2p
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I think it’s just that some people close to the community want a caslte built in a day.
I check Monzo and starling often to see what’s next and can get annoyed at the perceived slowness. But in reality…it’s not slow.
I have friends however who use both banks and get excited and tell me when there’s a new feature (foreign payments in starling orncoin jar here). to them it isn’t slow because they’re not obsessed with checking it daily like a lot of is.
Just my two cents…
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You’ve probably hit he nail on the head. Ill be the first to admit I certainly check this forum daily. So your right what seems ‘slow’ to me is probably quick to the average user as they are not eagerly waiting for updates.
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I think it also depends on what counts as useful feature for a specific person too.
I really don’t understand the need for the coin jar, hope to never need an overdraft, and as a selfish iOS user really don’t care about Android parity.
Whilst migrating prepaid users is important to Monzo it isn’t actually a feature for users.
That’s not to say these things aren’t useful Monzo or other users but if all you want is custom categories you’ve been waiting a very long time.
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When you contrast monzos release cadence with most traditional banks 1-2 yearly bad updates it’s pretty hard to make an argument.
My RBS app has had maybe 1 noticeable update in the last couple of years (I no longer need a card reader to add a payee)
My HSBC app just got an update for the first time in 2 years and almost no features in the new app currently work other than the revised UI. it’s actually feature wise a huge step back on their old app.
For a company like monzo starting a new bank and trying to do it right it’s critical not to release buggy shit. That is a rapid way to loose customer trust. We can accept bugs and issues in social media or a music app, but not in banking. It needs to robust at an unparalleled level, not just for regulation and security but for user trust too.
With that in mind, their release cadence is actually astounding and I think over the next 12 months you’re going to see monzo stand out to a laughable degree, I would say against its competition but im not sure it will have any.
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You have high hopes, let’s hope that Monzo can keep up with them or surpass them.
Santander is the same. The new UI is only minor frontend changes, but has removed a bunch of features. For a while they had both apps available, and then the new one replaced the old one.
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They did finally bring Touch ID log in to their iOS app this year. Whilst Touch ID makes logging in easier, though, it does mean I’ll forget all my log in passwords and have to reset them eventually. 
Having had a think about this, I think the issue (if there is one) is around that awful corporate phase “expectations management”. Looking back on here, some of the initial plans for Breakdown were published by @hugo almost a year ago. On the Trello roadmap there are items that were created over a year all still languishing in the 6-12 month category.
It upsets our inner child when were promised Christmas, but then life happens and we have to wait to Easter for our presents. But that’s the trade-off between working in the open and having pissed off users. I think that Monzo are aware of it and are recalibrating (that’s my sense though).
(I do wonder though if a “head of small details” might be useful - someone to pick up and champion small changes that can be released super quickly that would delight folk - but not necessarily be product’s priorities?)
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I know just the man for the job 
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What have I done?! 
“under promise, over deliver” 
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The wisdom of Star Trek (TNG in this case)
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Yeah, well, I told the Captain I’d have this analysis done in an hour.
Scotty: How long will it really take?
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: An hour!
Scotty: Oh, you didn’t tell him how long it would really take, did ya?
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Well, of course I did.
Scotty: Oh, laddie. You’ve got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker.
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That was me. Sorry all, won’t do it again. Had felt it was pretty aggressive, and an opinion rather than a fact, but wasn’t my call to make.
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