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. Itās 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 youāre not financially linked to?
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 wouldnāt want to potentially risk reducing the otherās 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. Itās easy to just think they mean nothing as itās fairly easy to get one now but they shouldnāt be used if youāre not prepared to officially link with someone (and their entire credit history).
I think itās 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 Ā£50 in for a leaving gift, but Karen doesnāt 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 itās 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 itās 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 dinnerā¦ she could easily have just spent it. It happens all the time. If there was a shared pot that everyone could see then weād see exactly how much was in there, and how much was sent. Itās not for Monzo to sort out.
No different to a joint account. The other person can spend as they like, you canāt complain to your bank because you all agreed to take on that risk.
Savings account donāt generally create a āFinancial Associationā as theyāre not a credit facility and is why it would be a great idea! Itās a suggestion that I think should be explored again! Everyone circumstances are different and not everyone wants that financial link but wouldnāt 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 Ā£35 of my money for a work eventā¦ because I already have done by sending her the money in the first place.
Yeah and Iāve 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 donāt/didnāt 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, itās the person in legal control of it dying. The money becomes part of their legal estate, and the other contributors lose it. Monzoās shared tab is an elegant solution which avoids the risks of actually pooling the money.
I havenāt 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 doesnāt report to credit reference agencies, which is a good option instead of joint pots.