Hi there
I was just thinking what a great feature it would be if like shared bills we could have a shared saving pots with other Monzo account holders that each individual in the joint savings pot can save into but in order to withdraw any money both account holders would need to approve or if there was a breakdown in relationship the saving pot could be closed by either party with the amount in the pot distributed evenly across account holders!
Mark
Monzo thought about it once, but then created joint accounts instead. Itâs been mentioned quite a few times since but seems like a huge nightmare.
What would be the use case for pooling savings in the same pot with someone youâre not financially linked to?
Joint Holiday?
Itâs a replacement for a long running shared tab tbf. 
I donât want to financially connect my life with my partner, but would gladly have a shared pot for a holiday, or monthly spending.
You could easily argue a loose joint-account lite situation with someone you might not want to become financially linked to on credit reports.
Housemates, those kind of bills. Or a couple where one person has a bad credit history and wouldnât want to potentially risk reducing the otherâs credit rating.
Friends saving for a joint event.
Workplace pots for teas/coffees/lottery.
Joint accounts are an actual serious link with another person; they have consequences on both sides potentially. Itâs easy to just think they mean nothing as itâs fairly easy to get one now but they shouldnât be used if youâre not prepared to officially link with someone (and their entire credit history).
They key here too - is itâs with one other person. It doesnât allow me to connect with my other friends for a trip or weekend when weâre all off out together, and save us splitting everything up later etc.
I think itâs a nightmare waiting to happen, which is what Monzo probably realised. The original thread raises a lot of the potential issues.
Me & 10 others put ÂŁ50 in for a leaving gift, but Karen doesnât ever buy the gift. Keeps the money. Nobody else has access. Or someone else does have access and spends. Having approval for purchases just means delays/potential for someone being controlled.
In an ideal world where everyone is decent and honest, then itâs a great idea. In the real world it would cause far more headaches than it solves.
Oh I can see the issues but I still think itâs easy to think of real life uses of a shared pot.
As for the leaving gift situation that happens already, just not into a pot everyone can see. I transferred a colleague for our work Christmas dinner⌠she could easily have just spent it. It happens all the time. If there was a shared pot that everyone could see then weâd see exactly how much was in there, and how much was sent. Itâs not for Monzo to sort out.
No different to a joint account. The other person can spend as they like, you canât complain to your bank because you all agreed to take on that risk.
Savings account donât generally create a âFinancial Associationâ as theyâre not a credit facility and is why it would be a great idea! Itâs a suggestion that I think should be explored again! Everyone circumstances are different and not everyone wants that financial link but wouldnât it be great if you and your friend say who are both banking with Monzo but live at different addresses and want to save for that holiday away, surely that should be allowed without creating a financial link!
Very true but I trust my girlfriend more than I trust a dozen colleagues at work.
So a shared pot with them definitely not for you!
I would happily trust a colleague with £35 of my money for a work event⌠because I already have done by sending her the money in the first place.
Yeah and Iâve done the same many times. The pots would add a lot of transparency to it, nobody ever knows how much is in that envelope that gets passed around.
But I think Monzo donât/didnât want the headache of dealing with it when it goes wrong.
Good use cases but for me there are more risks to pooling with a group than benefits, and using Splitwise makes things safer.
For me, the big risk is not someone spending the money, itâs the person in legal control of it dying. The money becomes part of their legal estate, and the other contributors lose it. Monzoâs shared tab is an elegant solution which avoids the risks of actually pooling the money.
I havenât ever really understood the desire to go on a group holiday and see everyone else saving for it.
But for a pair, Monese does a joint account which doesnât report to credit reference agencies, which is a good option instead of joint pots.