Just wanted to talk a little about Mondo’s rivals, Atom.
I noticed in my emails earlier today that they had sent me an invite code to their service, as when I discovered Mondo I also had applied for other services.
I haven’t used my Atom code yet, and after reading their email I don’t plan on using it. This is what they sent me alongside the sign up code.
“The code gives you exclusive access to explore our app as well as the opportunity to open your own bit of Atom in the form of a fixed saver account, our very first product.”
So they’re only letting their users open a savings account with them right now.
Personally, compared to how Mondo first started I don’t think this a great move from Atom. Mondo easily looks to be beating all fin tech competition right now.
I think I probably signed up at a similar time as you, as I just received a code the other day. The app has a really weird UI and seems a little gimmicky so far. I too have little desire to continue using it without a card/apply pay. They don’t seem to be in it to improve the user experience of transactional data like Mondo is.
Yeah, I downloaded the app and explored it without putting my code in… Was super complicated and couldn’t really understand how to navigate it. If there’s one thing I can praise them for its their profile customisation. The way it says “Jacks Bank” for example if it was mine.
But you a pretty bank that has no core structure won’t do as well as a bank that also looks good, and also has a good structure (Mondo).
“Our App is unlike any other. It’s built on the gaming software Unity, a world first for a banking app (or so the internet tells us). Download and have a play, you don’t even need to open an account! Head to what we call the Playzone, a part of the App where you can learn a little more about us and open a Demo Account to see how our features such as the timeline, stream and portal all work.”
Built using unity? What a waste of resources… (Being a gamer I know what unity is) this huge engine used to design high end games and also community made games with good graphics. But they used it to create a banking app? Yikes. Bit overkill/unnecessary if I’m honest!
Their “demo” is pointless. You can’t do much except look at a fake demo savings account
I’m struggling to think of a valid reason for creating this in Unity. Unless they’re planning the ultimate gamification of banking that is. Get first place in the race to increase your interest rate by 0.1%
Who wants their banking to be a game though? I want my banking app to have a great looking interface/UI, push notifications, and flexibility with my account.
Interestingly I gave Atom a chance over the last few days and have now uninstalled the app.
Tried opening a savings account only to have my application put on hold for further checks. A day or two later I received an e-mail telling me to check the app for an update to my application. The app kindly informed me my application was declined and provided no further details.
I e-mailed Atom asking for an explanation and got a boilerplate reply telling me they had no details and that I either failed one of the usual credit checks or my bank account wasn’t UK based. An interesting response given that my bank is Citibank UK and Mondo, Halifax and Virgin Money have had no issues credit checking me in the past few months.
So much for Atom’s glossy but annoyingly slow 3D graphics enhanced app-only banking experience.
I was rooting for atom, youandb.co.uk, TSB, Virgin, metro, TSB
Then I found Mondo and now I’ve stopped looking. Aside from full bank features which will be coming it’s totally solved the out of date balance issue. So far I love it.
It totally baffles me how Atom got so far developing that app and launched it without realising that it is impossible to use. I can’t wrap my head around it. I think they probably thought they were being groundbreaking and people just needed to get used to it… but it’s actually just plain dumb.
I can’t even start on their technology stack when the fundamentals of the app are this unusable. I could go on for hours about how much of a bad idea Unity is for regular app building or for anything that isn’t simply a viewer in the financial world but I’ll just leave this screen capture I took a while back, it’s a recreation of my first experience with Atom.
Your experience matches mine. I assume they were going for something that was reminiscent of the stylised atom model. That recursion on clicking deeper and deeper was astounding. I’m trying to keep an open mind but at the moment I think Mondo are well in front.
To be fair I firstly heard about Atom way before Mondo. Been on their waiting list for few months and in the growing anticipation I have decided to check other fintech companies.
Got Atom’s invite few days back, downloaded the app which reminds me of Three app, lots of bubbles and shapes going all directions on my screen and confused the hell out of me.
Less is more. Once you go :mondo: you never go back!
