I don’t doubt that First Direct’s customers and switch incentives have a great effect on their customer and switch numbers, but it’s very far from a pyramid scheme. Nobody profits from a new customer joining, except the new customer. In a pyramid scheme people would be incentivised to invite new people to get paid (everyone in the upline, up to the CEO really) but here it’s simply a good deal
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No, I know. It’s just the way their customers recommend and shill for them. It makes it feel like one even though it’s not. A testament to how well they look after their customers if nothing else.
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Kind of wants to make me makes me want to* try them, but I don’t need a 5th account and them asking for certified copies in the post (which I read somewhere) is just so legacy and annoying
If it changed and I don’t need to mail things then amazing, I might switch Monzo to them for the 
*note to self: Don’t post on forums at 8am before your daily cup of coffee, while also on the phone, listening to elevator music 
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Weirdly First Direct don’t have a switching offer on atm.
However I’ve just spotted Nationwide are offering £100, and £125 if you’re already a member (Not sure how that works)
- We will credit the payment to the current account that you switched into within 10 calendar days of the full switch completing.
Edit: yeah so to get £125 you would need to first click open a savings, wait until active and then click switch.
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Fun fact: I actually started out as a community forum member before getting a job at Monzo 
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I have to say, I’m really surprised that First Direct haven’t fallen much more. The quality of their service has dropped significantly over the last three years as they try to do more online but it’s still very limited. Meanwhile they have cut back telephone support at a faster rate so that call waiting times have risen from an amazing average of about three rings to something more like about 20 minutes!
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There’s a lot to like about Monzo, but weak security is their biggest problem.
This is another sort of thing that has a huge impact on a survey.
If I haven’t had the need to call them in a few years, my expectation is that they still answer very quickly.
If you call on Weds and get answered quickly, then you call on Friday and are made to wait, then a survey drops, it won’t be a good review!
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How so?
That is generally not true. Only if First Direct can’t identify you electronically, which like most banks they can do in the vast majority of cases.
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This is going to be another instance of security being confused with privacy where the ‘issue’ is the app doesn’t default to making you wade through ludicrously annoying security theatre before you can open it, isn’t it?
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You’re right, it is, but I think if someone is going to write that sentence, they should actually explain what they mean by it.
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I am advised not to log out of the Ap, because if I do so then I have to go through a lengthy process which results in all security being switched off.
If I leave the Ap logged on then, if I don’t have biometrics that work reliably, there is no password/PIN alternative when I open it, so my Ap is accessible to anyone who can get into my phone (i.e. my phone security is the only protection).
Imagine I am using my phone and someone snatches it from me. It will be unlocked and all the information in my Monzo account is therefore accessible to them as long as they don’t close the phone. It is true that they can’t transfer money, but they can find out a lot about me and my account and that is a huge step up for anyone interested in identity theft.
Monzo management don’t see this as a problem, which I find really disappointing and it means Monzo cannot be my main account.
Please don’t say this is a confusion between privacy and security. Identity theft is a HUGE security problem not a privacy issue. I know only to well when a friend got hit how hard it was to gain control of his life again, and it was done using the sort of information I pointed to above.
By the way, entering a PIN is not a “ludicrous security theatre”!
Absolutely! and you will see I have.
Can I ask, how secure is your email app on your phone, and do you have any worries about that?
Anyone who grabs your phone out of your hand can find a lot more information for identity theft from your email than they can your banking app.
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This is your phone at fault, not Monzo. I’m guessing you’re on Android?
In this scenario, what do they learn, your bank balance? Your name and address is going to be far easier to find amongst your emails.
It’s exactly what it is. Your money is secure. But if you turn things off, it’s not private.
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Secure the app then if it’s that much of a concern.
It’s easier to do it yourself rather than ask Monzo to do it.
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Why don’t Monzo have a more secure app though? All of the other banking apps I have tried do seem more secure (or whatever you want to call it).
They do have a secure app.
They haven’t made it more private because they don’t see a need to, and makes them an attractive alternative to people who believe that traditional banks apps have over-complicated security theatre that hinders more than it helps. Both because it delays you accessing your money, and because when people have to remember a username, a PIN, a password, a memorable word, and more besides - they’re going to write it down. Boom, big security hole.
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