Making our company goals public: Q4 2018

Monzo Chat News & Updates
42

Don’t forget to add on another fee if it is a direct debit that takes you into the overdraft too :wink:

I also remember my charges snowballing because they were unclear and the following month they would come out only for me to become overdrawn again and get “fined” again. Who has time to go through your transaction history working out X% per day and totalling them all up :roll_eyes:

On Monzo they are clear and prominent at the top of the app and they tell you the exact date that they’re going to collect them. Simples :sunglasses:

I’m not wanting to argue with you about it though, you’re entitled to your opinion. If you feel Monzos are unfair then don’t use their overdraft, I won’t judge :slight_smile:

43

Lol, you seem quite emotional about this.

Exploitation is a strong accusation and if you genuinely think that Monzo is exploitative then I question why you’re still here.

What I see is a bank who are trying to do the right thing and still get picked apart. Borrowing comes at a cost and their fees are transparent. Charging for a service is not exploitation.

4 Likes
44

It doesn’t sound like you read my post to be honest. I said all banks are guilty of exploitation, not just Monzo. I’m still here because I appreciate the clear rate rather than the percentage, along with the various other benefits of Monzo.

Emotional would be telling someone their opinions are wrong.

1 Like
45

I think people are coming to terms with the fees, one way or another.

There is little point in arguing about the low cost of Monzo’s OD fees, because they aren’t low cost.

They are however, very easy to understand, and that is perhaps more important to some people (to me for example, I don’t particularly care for “easy to understand” - I’d rather have the cheapest).

I didn’t sign up to Monzo because of the ethics or the “transparency” - I did so because I liked the app, I liked the vision, and I thought it would be going places (I’m still here, because all of that is still true for me).

There are however, people who value these things a lot - Certainly around the “ethics” side of things, and the “hidden/unfair fees” stuff.

I think these people will be disappointed with the short term goals of Monzo - Specifically around how they generate revenue.

It’s almost taboo to say “Monzo are doing it like a legacy bank”, but there are times when it’s true, and there is a reason for that - It works and it makes them money.

This statement from the Monzo update is testament to that:

In the short term we’ll do this by offering great-value lending products that allow users to live their life stress-free and achieve their goals, whatever their credit history. And we’ll keep working to make overdrafts available to more people.

This to me, says Monzo will make money from loans, and overdrafts (which is fine, it’s how the other banks have been successful).

If we are talking about the “spread the cost” feature - It’s not anywhere near as cost effective as other options out there (see the discussion on Starlings 11% loan feature, which was criticised for being too expensive).

The same applies for overdrafts fees (which has now been discussed to death).

But… It’s easy to understand, it’s hopefully not going to drag people down into more debt, and it’s clearly explained from the outset what the customer is signing up to.

Monzo may not be the cheapest for people, but they are certainly one of the simplest when it comes to this stuff.

3 Likes
46

It is weird, because if you overdrawn £21 for 30 days it is super expensive, but, if your overdraft is £10,000 even for the whole year it is under 2%. So it works nice as a car loan or a house deposit :slight_smile:

1 Like
47

The issue is you are limited to £1,000 of overdraft - So it’s still “expensive” in comparison to “some” others at that rate.

I think someone worked it out before, and you’d have to be overdrawn by £1,800 for the Monzo system to be on par with the average fees.

48

Couldn’t disagree with you more. And, yes, I’ve read your justification posts following this one.

For me, I believed the CEO when he said that people struggling in debt can budget better when they know that their borrowing costs won’t exceed a definite top ceiling (in Monzo’s case £15.50) and when they know there are none of those ‘bounced’ charges being piled on at random.

Monzo’s model is set up that if it’s solely overdraft charges which take you back into overdraft in the next period (max £15.50) they alone won’t trigger any further charges (because these begin at –£20)

But Monzo can’t run this model and be the cheapest, because that doesn’t work for the business. So it’s a trade off between customer certainty and price point. (As it happens I don’t use Monzo’s overdraft, but that’s because I’m able to work with percentages and APR and compound debit interest, and I have a stable income. But I get that a huge portion of folk won’t or can’t faff with interest rates. Just because it’s not right for me doesn’t mean I want it changed for everyone.)

I absolutely refute that Monzo are exploiting anyone. An overdraft is an option. If borrowing is not wanted, Monzo will bounce transactions at no cost.

16 Likes
49

I agree with this completely. Actually knowing how much you’re going to be charged and when you’re going to be charged is brilliant.

For example, with NatWest… standing order failed? £6 charge. Use pay at pump? Can take 1day to adjust the price, can take 5 days its ridiculous so you never know when your balance will suddenly drop by £50

Drop below your agreed overdraft? Even if it is by £1 then that’s another charge plus interest!

Some high street banks MAY be cheaper but knowing how much you’re actually going to be charged is a big part of budgeting and saving money

Monzo certainly aren’t exploiting anyone. I for one am terrible with money but since being with Monzo I’ve cleared my entire £3k overdraft with Natwest and actually have savings now?! 18 months ago I thought I was going to be in debt for years

Last night my phone bill came out and a pay at pump charge updated which brought me into overdraft (which I don’t have with Monzo) and says I have a few days to get money before it settles and I won’t be charged. I get paid weekly (on a Friday) so I now know I have nothing to worry about because in less than 24 hours I’m going to have enough money to clear that unauthorised overdraft and even if not then it will only be a 50p charge! That would be more like £50 at any other bank.

Monzo is brilliant for people looking to get out of a hole. Sure it needs work in multiple places but overdrafts are not one of them and anyone claiming that they are “exploiting” customers is simply wrong

12 Likes
50

Off topic but you’ll get this with any bank, it’s just how pay at pump works at the moment. It depends on when the retailer processes the new amount

1 Like
51

Monzo confirms the amount in under 24 hours everytime. Any other bank can take from 1-5 days. That’s what I meant. I understand the general issue with pay at pump but Monzo still deal with it better than any other bank I’ve seen

52

On Monday I will have moved from tier 2 changes (£1.50 a day) to tier 1 (75p a day) with my main account purely thanks to using Monzo and being able to save enough to reduce my overdraft, which had been maxed out for years

5 Likes
53

“Certain groups of customers are actually positive, as we’ve started growing significant revenue through lending too.”

That’ll be the tiny minority living in their overdraft to provide us with free banking…yay the system is still intact!

1 Like
54

Oh I haven’t seen those stats. Do you have a link showing the number of customers permanently in their overdrafts? Or are you trolling as usual?

4 Likes
55

Not exactly how I’d phrase that, but you’ve stumbled on a serious point. In the UK we have the expectation that banking should be free. Sounds great, but this means that the indebted end up subsidising the debt free - as that’s (crudely) how banks make their money.

Personally, I’d prefer to pay a small amount for a bank account. That would also benefit Monzo as, due to their lower cost base, they’d be able to undercut the competition in a way they can’t (visibly) at the moment - mostly because (as others have outlined) traditional banks’ charges are obfuscated behind fees, charges and APRs.

Ultimately, I’d like to see a different form of banking that isn’t regressive like it is at the moment. But Monzo can’t change the whole UK banking system / market overnight on its own. Maybe I’ve drunk the kool-aid, but I believe that Monzo is a force for good in the industry. But, as they establish themselves and grow, they also need to find a way of being (in the short term) solvent, and ultimately profitable. It’s not the cheapest overdraft, but nor does it seem hidden, seeking to take advantage or profiteering. And as customers, we’ll all make our own minds up about it - and it’s okay for us to reach different conclusions.

5 Likes
56

Excellent news. What particular features of the Monzo account have helped with you’re being able to spend less and therefore repay some of your overdraft?

1 Like
57

I would like to see feature parity on the joint account. There is no CASS, no pots.

If it’s hard to do then I would love to see a technical report on why it’s hard to bring these features to the joint account. Otherwise I’m left to speculate the priorities aren’t right for me.

4 Likes
58

Pots is currently being completely rebuilt to support future developments at the moment they don’t support joint accounts at all

3 Likes
59

There is one somewhere on the forums but I don’t have the time to search for it.

To the best of my knowledge there was all sorts of issues to overcome such as design and user experience. Then there was discussions around pots and ownership. Currently pots are assigned to an individual and therefore if they were joint they would have issues of ownership, who controls them and how etc. Something along those lines and some other bits and pieces but don’t quote me on anything.

Basically, they said if it was as simple as copying over the current account pots to joint accounts then they would have done this by now.

Have a search and if you can’t find it what I’ve said and @glasgow has said pretty much sums it up :slight_smile:

1 Like
60

Where have you seen this mentioned?

Havent come across this :thinking:

61
5 Likes