[iOS] Support via iMessage Business Chat

Would it be possible to offer support via iMessage Business Chat in addition to inside of the app? iMessage Business Chat has a pretty straightforward API that you should be able to integrate into your existing support systems easily.

The reason why is because offering support via iMessage would make things feel a bit more personal IMHO as well as making support a bit easier to access across all of my Apple devices such as my Mac and Apple Watch. I could even talk to support via Siri!

Good idea but Monzo given by the multiple threads on here Monzo can barely keep up with the basics of support as it is.

3 Likes

This would be cool for the access across multiple Apple devices.

FYI Monzo. iMessage is huge in the US only because it replaces messaging by default between iOS users.

No one really uses OTT messaging such as WhatsApp to replace SMS/MMS texting in the US because SMS/MMS are unlimited and free with all mobile phone plans.

2 Likes

Interestingly this is basically true in the UK too.

What mobile network are you with? As far as I know no UK mobile provider offers free MMS (Picture Messaging). Only SMS (plain text)

2 Likes

Good point - I missed the MMS comment

Smarty does. https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/952548-will-an-mms-message-be-chargeable

MMS is pretty awful though even if it is free. It’s all about that RCS now.

This just isn’t true. I don’t know where in the US you are, but in my experience, there are many people that use WhatsApp and Signal, etc.

I am not saying no one uses it, but OTT is not used to the extent it is used in the UK.

Messenger is quite popular, but SMS/MMS/RCS remains the main method of Americans communicating via messaging with other Americans on mobile phones

The fact that iMessage automatically replaces SMS/MMS between iOS users was the point of my initial post.

To quote from Statista:

“This statistic presents the preferred mobile communication applications to communicate with others according to internet users in the United States. During the August 2017 survey period, 15 percent of respondents stated that Facebook Messenger was their communication app of choice. The majority of respondents preferred SMS.”

1 Like

Wow, interesting. I guess the people I know are not representative, given they are texting people overseas so more likely to use a messaging app. But it’s funny because 10–15 years ago when I was in the US, no one seemed to use SMS even though everyone used it here. Maybe in 10 years everyone will be using messaging apps. :wink:

Edit: just to add that I would love Monzo to support iMessage Business Chat!

1 Like

The issue with using iMessage means it’s development work that would only benefit iOS users.

I carry a iOS and Android device, also use a Mac. But would rather not be limited to Apple devices when using chat (just because I started the chat on one)

2 Likes

Minor clarification: would only benefit Apple users. You can start a iMessage Business Chat from iOS, macOS and watchOS.

2 Likes

Not sure how it works, but assumed the chat would have been initiated from the Monzo app, which would only be on iOS.

But yeah, I guess it could be a nice to have. Definitely not worth engineering work right now though.

I think it’s very interesting that Apple are building these kind of tools and certainly for some companies it might be a viable option! :grinning:

For us, though, there are two key things that would take this off the table. One is that it’s important that our tools are platform agnostic, which they presently are. In terms of support chat, the experience is exactly the same on both iOS and Android. The second thing is that our tooling is all in-house, built from the ground up. This is great, because we control every aspect of it in terms of functionality, and can easily contextualise and investigate any customer issue we see, and also because it minimises the risk of data going anywhere outside of our control.

3 Likes

I find this an interesting comment because the lack of parity between Monzo’s iOS and Android apps is appalling.

3 Likes

Could you elaborate, please?

I’ve no idea what @Js38wju3jda is referring to, but I find it intensely frustrating that we still can’t get a pot’s transaction history by tapping on it in iOS. Android has had this for months (over a year?) and it’s kind of vital for me for certain pot usages. It is compounded by the fact that the Monzo app crashes when I search for certain pot names, so I have no way of seeing incomings and outgoings for some pots. It’s actually a blocker for moving our main joint account to Monzo. :frowning_face:

I carry two phones (one for work) so regularly use the iOS and Android app.

Never found anything that only worked in one and not the other.

Big two features for me are:

Charity Category
Merge Payees

1 Like