You’re right, I agree completely - I hadn’t considered this.
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The only thing I’d add here is that there’s also the “mobile payments” / Paym technology which might confuse people. I think “Text or email” is fine, but other words could sound like it’s an implementation of Paym.
I used this yesterday to pay a local artist for a Christmas gift I was buying for someone and it worked well! 
Haven’t had any feedback on this from the recipient yet, but they have received it. This saved any conversations and hassle around exchanging bank account details, having to get cash out, or dealing with change.
The default message wording isn’t how I would have worded it at all and seemed quite unnatural, so I changed that. The planned improvements - especially the ability to view/cancel the created links - will make this so much better 
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Change ‘text’ to ‘message’ maybe?
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I was also thinking this. ‘Message’ seems to be the up to date terminology.
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There’s no additional friction, apart from the additional friction? 
C’mon guys. I use Monzo because I thought you cared about user experience. You’re better than dark patterns.
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I don’t see how a de-emphasised button adds any friction whatsoever. It’s crystal clear that you can either transfer to your bank account, or open an account with Monzo.
It really isn’t crystal clear – users see the big blue button and basically nothing else. This is well understood by UX design. So you have two choices, you can either put the thing the users wants to do in the big blue button (get the money into their existing bank asap) and make their life easier, or you can put the thing you want them to do in the big blue button and make their life harder.
Somebody posted a great example earlier in the thread showibng how this can be used in a particularly obnoxious way to discourage people from leaving a mailing list, and Monzo is using the exact same dark pattern here.
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I do not agree with this in the context of the interaction that is taking place.
If I am sending a link to someone to pay them both they and I are aiming for a quick, friction free, interaction, with the main purpose being to complete payment with as little clicks and as little mental load as possible.
Having a sign up flow here feels like shoe horning growth in to a flow.
I don’t see a problem with doing so, unless it takes away from either of the above aims.
Having a perfectly smooth flow, that means on second use, or on the confirmation screen, the other person is impressed and tempted enough seems great.
However, it does feel very much like an icky dark pattern to prioritise the growth needs of monzo over the original intent of the users - which is what it feels like to me in making someone have to think more to complete the flow by deprioritising the functionality that relates to simply paying someone, and having them have to understand what monzo is and if they want an additional bank account, rather than simply entering details they are already familiar with.
It would also make me less likely to use to send money to someone rather than just asking for their details, as I wouldn’t want to have any friction on my half having to answer questions about what monzo is and do they need to sign up for it.
It feels like monzo are releasing this primerily as a growth tool, whereas as a customer I see it as a payment tool.
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Also, remember how we used to get someone on the forum every two days saying they couldn’t sign in? That was because Monzo used this same design for their login screen. “Register” was a big blue button, “Sign In” was the de-emphasised text below it. Everyone tried to register a fresh account instead of signing into their old one.
Design got changed, problem stopped.
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I tried this out today. It worked well, but immediately felt spammy when I saw the contents of the link and I would not use it in its current form. The one additional feature I’d like is a way to see these links and cancel them - you are allowing anyone who gets hold of that link to take money, so I think cancellation is really important.
You can and should use this as a way of encouraging signups to Monzo (great idea), but the feature is presented as a way for existing customers to send money to people with a link, NOT as a way for customers to encourage signups for Monzo. That needs to be your focus. Internally the feature may have been built as a way to drive user growth. Externally Monzo is presenting it as a way to send money to friends not yet on Monzo. Those two aims don’t have to conflict, but there is definitely a tension there, and you’ve come down too far on the side of pushing people to signup to Monzo.
Show them the bank is great by making this a great first experience to encourage signups, don’t resort to trying to trick users into signing up because they’re confused about their options. I’d like to suggest some simple fixes to avoid the spammy feel:
- Use buttons for both options, so they are on equal footing
- Put the other bank button first, but make it clearer that if you choose Monzo you get £10 extra, perhaps a total below each button in small writing? £x + £10 new account bonus or just £x
So something like:
- Add To UK Bank
£50 - Sign Up To Monzo
£50 + £10 new account bonus
If the second option was genuinely inferior it could be a link, but from a user’s point of view who just wants to receive money, it’s pretty clearly the easier, simpler option to use their existing account. The great thing about guiding them in the right direction even at cost to you is people will come away with a really positive view of Monzo in their first interaction with you - a bank that lets you send money with a link is pretty cool, and one that doesn’t spam you with attempts to sell is even better. If on the other hand you try to spam them and confuse them into signing up for a new bank account they didn’t even want, they’ll come away with a really nasty impression of Monzo and you’ll get unhappy customers and increased support load.
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Should a/b test switching the ‘sign up to monzo’ link with ‘use another account’.
Also there should be a back button in case customer changes their mind and don’t want to sign up to monzo anymore, and want to claim it using another account instead.
I have just tried this out by sending a request to myself, without carrying out the transaction. I just wanted to see how it would work in practice if I sent this to anyone In the future.
I really don’t like it. The whole emphasis around recruiting people to monzo via a link that’s designed to pay people who don’t have monzo is desperate. It’s on this basis, I wouldn’t be using it.
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I really like the idea here, and I’ll certainly have uses for it in the future. I often withdraw cash because it’s easier than asking someone for their bank details.
I agree that asking for a Monzo signup is the wrong approach, but I also don’t think it’s very constructive feedback. How about presenting the Current Account Switch Service for Monzo after the payment? It could say something like:
- “That was quick! Next time, it could be even quicker.”
- or “Jealous of the link your friend just sent you? Sign up to Monzo and start sending money today.”
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Just send one of these to my friend and she’s totally confused 
but basically I gave up and just sent it her using their sort code and account number…
I know the link expires after 7 days but how do I kill it before then? Really think this has been overlooked?
Edit: Does pressing the cross in the feed kill the link?
I think you have to contact CS - But I can’t find where it said that.
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Really… so basically have to make more work for CS’s when they are already busy for a simple task that should have been included before Labs? 
Current limitations
- After creating a new link you won’t be able to see it again. So if you didn’t share it at that moment you won’t be able to retrieve it. All links automatically expire after 7 days, so if you didn’t share it anywhere there’s nothing to worry about, just let it expire on it’s own.
- If you share the link with the wrong person, or share it in a public place, there’s no way to manually cancel the link. We’re planning to add this in the future, but for the time being you’ll have to get in touch with customer support.
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@Chris_R No worries mate thanks for that…
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Can someone please answer: When the recipient puts in their bank details, are these automatically populated into Payees for future use by the recipient?