Monzo in The Times again
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Another one, Monzo (and others) looking to sublet surplus office space post Covid
Remote working leaves office landlords facing worst crunch since 2008
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It wanted to be a financial hub and then it wanted to be a bank as well. Until it was, then they regretted it. And the financial hub idea never worked.
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That’s the way office work is going.There will be less need for office space and landlords may have to turn offices into residential accommodation instead. Companies will save on rents and employees will save on travel.
I’ve been working from home since March and I’m in no rush to get back to the office. It looks like we may be working from home permanently, and just going into the office now and again.
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Revolut found killing the financial hub concept.
Starling found killing the bank thing.
For me the telling factor will be when Monzo goes looking for further investment, which it’s still most likely going to need. And I don’t mean crowdsourced.
It depends on whether it’s successful and what strings are attached.
My feeling already is that some of these changes in structure are the result of so called ‘strings’ but I’ve absolutely no proof at all.
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I dont know if theyd even be allowed to crowdfund again by the existing investors.
Ouch:
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Six years in and neobanks are really still more a banking bolt-on for millennial pocket money
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It was this bit that got me
Standing balance losses aside, if all neobanks disappeared tomorrow, would anyone really miss them?
If traditional banks didn’t charge foreign exchange fees how many people would need/want fintech for travel money
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if there was no change brought about by “neobanks” Im sure we would all be perfectly happy being summoned to the bank managers office to explain why we needed to go into overdraft and what we proposed to do to get out of it- the “neobanks” have brought about this change
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Care to elaborate, I don’t follow.
I’ve never been summoned to a bank managers office and I was arranging overdrafts online before the neo banks came along.
I agree that Challenger banks have inspired change that might not have otherwise have happened as quickly, but the quote from the article specifically says “ would anyone notice if they went away?”
Are you suggesting that all the changes the banks have made in response to these challengers would be rolled back if Monzo, Starling etc and all the others disappeared?
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Yes, lots of people would notice.
Do you think the high street banks would have added all these features if the fintech banks hadnt?
If they all disappeared today, progress in banking would be back to a snails pace. We wouldn’t know what we’d be missing of course, we’d just get used to it.
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I recall arranging an overdraft with Barclays, while parked in a van outside a Barclays branch, way back in the 90s. It did seem a little perverse at the time.
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no Im not suggesting they would be rolled back , I think it would be quite difficult to roll back to how they used to work once it has been offered without loosing custom to some other bank that does offer it.
Im suggesting without the likes of Starling and Monzo the changes wouldn’t have happened as quickly , if at all .
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I remember having to sit with my father in the bank managers office in the 70s to open an account, I also remember having to go in to branch with my passport as ID to make a largish Chaps transfer which they charged the princely sum of £30 for the privelidge …that was a couple of years ago 
So yeah would people notice if the neobanks disappeared … Lloyds et al would still be charging a £1 for foreign transactions , plus 2 or 3% commission on the exchange , if I bounced a cheque it would be another charge , if they wrote to me it would be another charge , if I wanted a bank draft another charge …etc etc … now there are more options mostly because of the neobanks, people tend to forget what it was like in the good old days
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Yes. Apps from traditional banks are still inadequate for want I want from a bank app, despite attempts to catch up to the mobile-only banks.
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I also think this
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I’m still of the view, despite some lovely think pieces claiming the world is falling down, that Monzo, Starling, Revoult and N26 will still be here in 5 years time. Whether as stand alone business, or brought out by someone else/funded through the J curves they are going through.
If you want an easy way into banking in the UK with a massively well known brand for a JP Morgan for example, you buy Monzo or Starling, if you want a easy way in for a big tech firm, you buy one of these banks.
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