Monzo Labs: Merge payees

Yep I agree with the sentiment. It seems obvious to me that merging payees will eventually make it to iOS, it won’t be immediately because we’re building a bunch of other stuff (if you’re an iOS engineer we’re hiring!) and prioritisation is really tough.

It’s more that Android got it sooner, not iOS that got it later, if that makes sense. And it’s all because a group of engineers decided to do this over their Monzo Time which is a really nice thing imo.

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This is nonsensical.

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Hi Bruno. It’s a real shame that Payee Management has taken a back seat - even more so now on iOS - lots of people have been asking to see improvements since the Big List. Take a look here:

https://community.monzo.com/t/improved-payee-management/65521?u=paulw

I really hope the improvements like those requested above don’t get lost or forgotten. Payee management is fundamental for a bank and if you can make it work even better than it is, that’s got to be a good thing. Sadly it currently seems like another half way house rather than a finished product.

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errr… we just announced merging payees on Android :sweat_smile:

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Crappy payee management (on iOS) that was only half–heartedly reengineered for the Big List was one of the reasons I ditched Monzo for being pretty much unusable now.

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I’m glad that this feature has come - and as an Android user I’m particularly happy :slight_smile:

More seriously, I think there’s a broader question about what Monzo time is actually for. I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with it being used for what seem to me like core functions. But then again I’m not really sighted on prioritisation and stuff - and I’d much rather have it (even on one platform) than it gathering dust in a repo somewhere because it can only be released when we have platform parity.

That all said - I can’t really bring myself to be too concerned by this. I might be looking through rose tinted specs, but my reading of @bruno’s new platform team that’s focusing on core app features is that they’ll (hopefully) be going through the app bit by bit, applying the same fundamental rigor as with the home screen. I’d hope that this would mean that once the new interface is sorted, they’ll turn their attention to things like the Payments tab - and give that the fundamental love it needs, too.

(I could be completely wrong about all that, of course).

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You should be a politician :rofl:

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I think the annoying thing personally about that for me is that theyve just moved on from the payments tab and wont look at it again for a while.

I also think the payments tab worse now than what it was, (sorry bruno)

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The way I see it is that there was a bit of a half hearted effort on for a bit on the Payments tab. I don’t know the details, but it seemed like there were a lot of good intentions, but - given that we know that Monzo can really move at pace when it wants to - it seems like it wasn’t prioritised or worked on.

I’m not saying that any of this was right. Almost certainly not, in fact. And I agree that the designs for the Payments tab has made it in some respects more complicated rather than simplifying.

I suppose that I’m saying that I think that Monzo has recognised this, and now has a squad dedicated to the core functionality of the app. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if all the stuff we’ve been saying here contributed to making the case for it. And I’ve been super impressed by the methodological and open way that Bruno and team are going about the home screen. It’s for those reasons that - while the current situation isn’t perfect - I have big expectations for the future.

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This is nicer but fairly different to what was said a few posts up. Here’s hoping then

Could not disagree with this more - the old Payments tab was too cluttered imo.

I really like having stuff like Pay Anyone and Monzo.me under Pay and Request buttons in the current Payments tab. The separate Pay. Scheduled and Share tabs are also separate features out nicely and being able to see pending Bill Splits is very useful.

NB: I do think the current Payments tab could do with some improvement (eg: make Frequent and Recent both scroll horizontally to save space), but it’s loads better than the old Payments tab imo.

I agree that there’s a lot of improvements we can still make. But also think the current Payments tab was a massive improvement over what we previously had. We also tackled some significant tech debt on that screen. Which is why it’s now possible for a group of engineers to build merging payees over a week or so.

The team working on the new navigation was the same team working on Payments - so we had to choose between continue iterating Payments or redesign the Home screen :slight_smile:

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Good shout - that worked.

Sent him a penny, then he appeared in the list as a Monzo payee I can merge his Lloyds account with.

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Rome wasn’t built in a day, keep up the good work bruno I’d be worried if yous got everything perfect at the first time of asking :laughing:

Happy days :partying_face:

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It would be nice to hear from Monzo why this is required for merging? :thinking:

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People whining about a Labs feature someone made in their spare time is why people can’t have nice things.

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  1. Im pretty sure the reason its in labs is to get constructive feedback
  2. Most people aren’t “whining” about this nice feature, more so it its lacka of availability. Most people will like it
  3. Not developed in spare time, more so developed during unassigned time
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Merging payees is great but I still want to be able to add someone as a payee before i pay them

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Merge Process works well :+1:t2:

To climb on the back of other comments other Payee management is required:

  • Create a Payee
  • Edit Payee name
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Not sure how I managed to miss this…

I’ll try not to sound overly dramatic, because we are talking about a banking app after all…

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that Monzo have very little desire to develop basic/obvious banking features, and instead focus on rather niche money making ideas.

Note - No problem with those niche money making ideas, but I’d like to see something useful come to the app I use for my banking…

I love the idea of Monzo time (from an employee POV), but when these ideas become actual features in the app, especially features that people have been asking for, for years! It’s so pitiful to use the excuse that it was developed by a few people in their own time…

I’d kind of understand if it was something frivolous that was a fun addition… But merging payees… really?

I can’t think off the top of my head, but there have been some pretty big releases that have stemmed from Monzo time recently, and the question is, what exactly are Monzo doing, if the new features are all coming from employees having a bit of fun on a Friday!?

The Big List was supposed to be some big (marketing) statement of intent, but since then, the half finished ideas have stayed half finished, and the genuine banking features are being working on by a couple of people in their own time!

It’s being shown up for what it was, when you have a further gulf in OS parity and payee management which has gotten worse!

Appreciate that’s a very inaccurate sweeping statement, but that’s how it looks.

Also, the “feedback and ideas” category is absolutely useless (which I’ve said from day one), and no one has any genuine idea what Monzo are working on, so Monzo can’t be held to account when they push features back in favour of other things…

I never thought I’d be so disappointed to see something like “payee merging” being highlighted as a feature, to be told it was made by a few people in their spare time, and “don’t hold your breath” for it on iOS.

It’s just poor all around.

Rant over.

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