I think the key here is to look out for how many sign up to the higher priced package when that gets released. Also we don’t know how old those numbers are etc.
Take with a pinch of salt & let’s see what comes from it over time in terms of renewals, and longer term numbers.
Monzo is the amex of the bank account world
Can’t wait to have the Monzo Black account in few years eh.
Earns MR Points (Monzo Reward Points)
The tabloids are having an.absolute field day with Monzo at the moment with this latest annual report. “Monzo’s bark turns into a whimper”, “As Monzo flounders, arch rival Starling looks set to make a profit”, “Monzo, the bank that doesn’t want to be” - all in the last week!
There are so many journalists salivating at the prospect of Monzo getting taken down a peg, like rabid dogs that haven’t been fed for weeks.
I don’t really understand why they are so gleeful to see specifically Monzo ‘losing’ at the moment (most ambitious young British businesses are generally well supported in the media), although I do think Monzo’s run of outperforming for years and their ‘holier than thou’ corporate attitude has built up an Olympic sized swimming pool of haters, who are taking this rare opportunity to swim in beautiful synchrony.
What?
The media love to tear down the successful underdog any chance they get the opportunity to do so. I don’t know why.
We saw it happen with Apple as it grew from the niche computer company into the worlds largest technology company. It still happens now. I wish I understood why, or the mentality behind it.
The only thing Monzo and Apple really have in common is the almost cult like following they’ve both cultivated. Perhaps that has something to do with it. Or maybe because we’re just intertwined with those followings that such articles can feel like personal attacks towards our identities and personal choices.
This analogy doesn’t quite hold true because of the overlap between Plus and Premium - ie external account integration, custom categories, etc.
But, I agree, it seems a bit silly to reserve judgement on Plus until an as yet unannounced, unconfirmed product launches.
My point remains that I think monzo are making life very difficult for themselves: not only do they need to make monzo basic/free better than the likes of Starling (which is in itself a significant challenge), they now need to make Monzo Plus better than their free account.
I honestly think we’ll see monzo really struggle to differentiate their products, and struggle to work out which features belong in which tier. Not only that, but they risk making the right decision today, only for the competition to switch things around and make it the wrong decision for tomorrow.
Lol, it’s a bit early to call it isn’t it? 
I was going to post something similar, heh. They love the chance to write those “look how the mighty have fallen” articles not just because schadenfreude makes for some high pageview articles, but also because, I think, deep down in their hearts there’s a lot of journalistic jealousy of startups. If you’re a hack you can’t play the startup roulette wheel, so it’s ever that much sweeter when you can crow over others who fail. They may well have to eat their words though; Monzo’s hardly done 
.
Monzo just attracts clicks.
And the news around Monzo right now is pretty awful. The company is worth a lot less, losses have doubled from an already eyebrow-raising level, it has shed staff through the lockdown whilst its closest rival has hired, and its Covid response has been extremely lacklustre, exposing its corporate structure and tech as being whatever the polar opposite of nimble is.
Monzo’s missteps last year around customer service, product development, clear route to profit and simple identity about what it wants to be have really, sadly, come back to haunt it.
Whether we consider ourselves Monzo Fans or Monzo Critics, the entirety of @j06’s post above is probably one of the most concise, considered and sensible posts that I have seen in this place in a long time.
Many seem to have an emotional commitment to Monzo (wanting to donate money to a bank, for instance). This is objective and rational. Things have not being going Monzo’s way for a little while since it’s rapid ascendancy and customer acquisition.
Why hasn’t Sifted used the most up to date figures?
Starling has over £3bn on deposit now.
I presume they’re using the figures that directly come from the reports they talk about.
OK I’d skimmed the article and now that’s obvious.
I usually think Sifted is quality journalism, and whilst the analysis is sound, I can’t help but feel that it’s all well and good, but there is already a major, global economic crisis in progress and the respective stakes in the ground last year are already largely irrelevant for comparison.
The article does make reference to Starling’s and Monzo’s responses to Coronavirus, but that just serves to make last year’s reports even more difficult to relate to what’s actually happening today.
An interesting quote though:
Lending seems to be the most obvious opportunity to monetise but has its challenges. Strong knowledge of how to effectively lend money and run a healthy loan book are key…
I wonder whether this is Boden’s strength after all, with Blomfield’s relative inexperience in banking now costing Monzo dear, with its ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ approach to lending.
Maybe the goldilocks pricing/principle that if you have a free tier, a cheap tier and a premium tier, the cheap tier looks more attractive than if there was just a free and a cheap.
Digital-only banks Monzo and Starling came out on top for both quality of service and online banking, while high street lender First Direct took the top spot for overdraft deals
Edit: I see it was posted elsewhere 
First Direct didn’t though, so I don’t know why The Mirror has reported that.
I was reading it on the bus and thought I’d missed something really obvious
The Mirror has really gone downhill
I always thought it was already at the bottom of the hill, so not sure how much further down it could have gone! 
So has First Direct, according to this poll 