Monzo are going to have to raise their game pretty quickly. The feeling I get from various threads here is that the emperor has no clothes.
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Didn’t think I would defend a legacy bank’s service on here but Santander have been pretty decent with customer service. The wait times on the phone are bad if you call late in the evening, but they’ve always been really helpful and nice on the phone and at the branch I go to.
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My problem with this is that I just don’t want to go to a branch or talk to someone at all; for 90% of my interactions with a bank I already know what I need to do and I just need a button to do it; this is where Monzo and the other challengers (Starling, etc) shine compared to the legacy garbage.
The only time I would be happy to go to a branch is if the bank would compensate me at the same hourly rate I charge for freelance projects. 
I sometimes look at the responses here and seriously can’t believe how people throw away their time like it was nothing - every second you save by not going to a branch is a second extra you can spend with your friends, family, kids, etc - don’t waste it. Even accounting for Monzo’s limitations (like the direct debits non-retry issue) is a lot more efficient that putting up with a legacy bank’s bullshit - and the time saved can be put to better use. Upset about the lack of interest? Just put the time Monzo saves you by getting out of your way into some billable work and suddenly you’ve got like 10x more that even the best legacy interest rate.
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I do agree that changes need to happen in order to keep customers on the Monzo platform as well as bring new ones in. It’s not stagnated yet but we know the team are working hard to close the prepaid programme. Pretty sure once that happens features will start flowing again.
I’m not living in a fairytale world as I know that the majority of consumers will be used to same old banking culture of ”how much free money are you gonna give me?”, but I would love it if people could be educated to see the truth in that culture is that it costs others, and sometimes even themselves (later on), more money than they gain.
Unless the legacy banks pull their fingers out and give people control over their money, once the word spreads, the CASS, rules for pots and international payments are launched, then consumers will really start swimming towards the :mondo: I hope but probably being too optimistic again.
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Neither do I. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I had to go into a branch. I like to use in-branch ATMs where possible, but that’s through choice.
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My last experience with them was about 6 or 7 years ago to be fair. They may have changed but it’s hard to trust someone that’s mistreated you in the past
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I don’t know which bank(s) you bank with Andre but it has been years since I have had to go to a branch to sort an issue out - the rest just putting money and cheques in. The amount of time spent on the phone is negligible and probably less than the amount of time I have spent chatting to Monzo.
I’ve always generally found that once set up, banking is pretty much ‘set and forget’ in terms of needing somebody at the bank to actually do something.
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I used to be with Nationwide, and the first and only chargeback I’ve done with them was a nightmare - it took several hours of back and forth by phone and email (that is, when the emails wouldn’t bounce because their mailbox was full), and in the end the merchant was the one who refunded me so I dropped the matter with the bank, otherwise it would’ve gone on and on.
Opening the account itself took an appointment (so time off work, etc) and a good two hours when accounting for all the papers I had to prepare in advance. Given I didn’t get any value of their product, I don’t even consider that initial investment recouped.
Another example was HSBC, 4 appointments of an hour and a half long, plus papers, with absolutely no result.
The other difference with Monzo is that chat is asynchronous and doesn’t require me blocking off 1+ hours on my calendar; I can do my Monzo things while working at the same time, which is a win-win for everyone involved. Even First Direct’s téléphone banking (which is apparently very good) doesn’t come close as it still means you need to completely drop the task you’re working on and focus solely on the call.
the rest just putting money and cheques in
Maybe your use case is different but I would consider those wasted time as well - I would recommend rejecting those kinds of payments and pointing payers to alternate methods like Faster Payments or cards.
Totally agree that banking is set and forget, and I believe this is the reason why a lot of Monzo users feel like legacy is catching up - because once you’ve set up Monzo it just works forever and you don’t notice it anymore. Legacy can do that to a certain extent, but they have major shortcomings - blocking cards for suspected fraud (and unblocking is a pain), robbery in the form of absurd charges (12£ for a rejected direct debit, seriously?), etc - none of which you get with Monzo.
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I guess it depends on the person - I have done both Nationwide and HSBC online starting from scratch (no previous accounts). Nationwide didn’t have to have any further interaction with a person re. account opening.
Only other time I had to ring was to reverse a direct debit payment, request was put through in minutes and was actioned later that day.
HSBC was a bit more shaky but still no interaction with a person needed for account opening, just some patience waiting for letters. I would consider HSBC the most legacy of legacy banks though as everything else has been an absolute pain.
I’m not saying Monzo’s customer service and on-boarding isn’t better than the most of high street banks, I’m just not sure it is going to be enough on its own. People don’t spend enough time messing about with their bank for it to matter over whatever benefits are being offered.
Eh, rarely happens and usually when a company has just sent the cheque out with a letter. Would take longer to argue than just putting the cheque in. The cash is just cash gifts, and I rarely use cash so needs to go in the bank (don’t get many of these any more anyway 
).
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Yeah the last time I went into a branch was probably two years ago (and I like it that way). It’s just annoying when you first try to set up your account. If I didn’t live on campus then with a bank literally 2 minutes away I would have hated how many appointments I had to make. And it took a month to open an account. Even after sending my documents ahead weeks before arriving. But after that it’s pretty much… you don’t ever want to communicate with them and just use the account.
I much prefer communicating via chat which I can put down and come back to later (which was my main gripe with the systems Revolut and Starling use, you sort of have to stay on a live chat). But compared to other legacy banks like Lloyds and Barclays? Santander has much better service.
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I think having to visit a branch may have to do with with whether a bank can validate your identity electronically or you decide to go in branch. Banks can cross check your name and address through passport numbers, driving licence and the electoral roll (from your credit file) to confirm your online application is from you.
I’ve opened 6 bank accounts in 5 completely different banks since I last opened an account in a branch in 2004 (2005, 2010, 2013, 3 in 2017) and all have been online and without ever talking to anybody.
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If you think it’s a good idea moving back to a legacy account.
Set up the legacy account with paypal first.
Easy way to see how Monzo sets a high standard 
In fairness I think on occasions we are referring to people that have not lived long in the UK and as such may be finding it difficult to prove a UK identity
With that in mind it must be difficult to provide those standard forms of identity that we have all come to except as standard/normal
I’m sure that I would have similar issues if I wanted to set up an account in Japan or Germany etc
I have (and have had) a number of bank accounts with a number of established banks (probably more than half a dozen over the years), and have only needed to go to branch twice over the last 5 years. In both cases to provide ID documentation to open accounts. No appointment needed, I did it at a time that suited me, it took about 5 minutes, and quite frankly I sit behind my desk all day - moving a little bit doesn’t hurt 
As I said before: I have spent about as much time with Monzo’s chat over the last 12 months, as with all my other banks combined over the previous 5 years, as I just never really had any issues, apart from having to return a DD (which took about 5 minutes on the phone). I have said it before, that I find Monzo’s chat slow and time consuming.
And that’s not wasted time? 
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And that’s not wasted time?
Can be done in an email. 30 seconds and it’s done; the rest is just waiting for the Faster Payment to arrive.
That probably depends - there are a few companies who ignore emails, or will engage in quite some back and forth 
Be that as it may: with the advent of cheque based imaging it’ll also take 30 seconds to take a photo of your cheque - done. Even better (and, yes, getting rid of cheques altogether would be better still, but I’m not going to to change the world today )
I’ve had accounts with:
Barclays
Halifax
Lloyds
Nationwide
NatWest
All accounts typically immediately deducted a card transaction from my available balance. The instances where this didn’t happen was when l was on a train etc. For Lloyds/Halifax l could see the transaction also listed on my statement (nested off a menu). Nationwide l believe have now bought in the ability to see pending transactions.
Where this instant deduction didn’t happen was Contactless which for most Banks are typically Offline cards so would see a transaction appear 24-48 hours later. I miss offline contactless as was very useful a couple of days before payday as well timed could carry on using and not incur any charges. My understanding is that offline first cards will reduce.
The only Bank l came across that didn’t deduct the available balance immediately was the Coop. It drove me crazy that my available balance was never reflective of here/now. But that was 6 years ago so hopefully they have got better.
I miss offline contactless as was very useful a couple of days before payday as well timed could carry on using and not incur any charges. My understanding is that offline first cards will reduce.
You can still do that with a credit card; even my Capital One which seems to be online preferring will happily approve even beyond the credit limit, and given that by law they can only charge interest on settled/presented transactions, it gives you a buffer of a day or so.
Sadly not. my coop current account and my NatWest credit card are the only ones that completely hide “pending” transactions from me, and it drives me nuts!
I’ve had accounts with all of those too, except Natwest and it was hardly ever up to date with my latest transactions. That was several years ago though and my most recent legacy bank, First Direct, often took a day to even show a pending transaction.