There really is no ārecent newsā, as I understand things, just some required words in an annual report that someone seems to be sensationalising. If itās coming across as ānewsā then I guess theyāre achieving their aim
As I understand it, Monzo is in no danger of immediately going under. Indeed, the annual report says that they are a going concern. This quote has, I think, been overlooked:
These statements are prepared on a going concern basis
The going concern basis is dependent on
maintaining enough capital to fund the balance
sheet and meet our capital requirements. The
Directors have considered a number of factors
including the current and forecast performance
of the Group and the impact the COVID-19
pandemic is having on the business. Based
on this we have made an assessment of going
concern, and that the Group can operate for at
least 12 months from the date these financial
statements are approved.
Monzo could even crowdfund its customers, they got £20m off us in about 3 hours last time. Monzo will be fine, for at least the next 12 months anyway but probably forever. Almost every bank is posting heavy loses. Natwests £1.3billion loss in 3 months, Lloyds £700m loss etc.
Iām fully expecting a large number of companies who have financial statements signed off from mid-March and who are subject to statutory audit (and therefore will have an āaudit opinionā) to have similar emphasis of matter paragraphs relating to material uncertainty, just as in Monzoās case. This isnāt going to be anything out of the ordinary.
The topic title should technically be: āIs Monzo a Going Concern? [Answer = Yes, for the next 12 months, in the opinion of the Directors]ā
As long as itās not the same auditors who looked at Carillion, we can probably be reasonably comfortable theyāve looked at this in some detail and agree theyāre a going concern.
Iāve always held off opening a Starling account, despite the obvious near-parallels with Monzo.
I have enough backup legacy accounts to last a lifetime - all of them never used now. I operate with a one-is-all day-to-day banking philosophy which is currently a Monzo Joint Account (with emergency back-ups from HSBC, Barclays, etc. - as anyone should have)
After the last few days of news following the annual report, Iāve considered looking at Starling, mainly to have there as a just-in-case, non-legacy banking option.
I researched Starling as I would with any other āpurchaseā and today, I downloaded the Starling app. And installed it. And ran it to the point of signing up.
Then I slapped myself and told myself to get real. Monzo is going nowhere, regardless of who is at the helm. And there are seasoned people on deck now. The tech is there, the fundamentals are there and the passion is there, even if familiar faces are leaving. They all helped build what it is and did an amazing job.
It isnāt going to fold overnight or be sold or dissolve over a shortāish period - if it does, Iāll eat my invested CrowdCube ££ās (as will every other āindividualā investor unfortunately)
āThink differentā springs to mind, although that tag has been used to death before now. And while everyone else has the right to choose whatever they want, Iām sticking with what Ifeel is right, right now.
Remember you are on a fan forum so you will get slanted advice - so my advice is do not rely on one bank, if all your money is in Monzo move some of it to a different bank. You should do this regardless of current difficulties.