Monzo Metal Card

To an extent, I feel they should probably start to push people away from physical cards. Very rarely use mine these days - Android Pay covers me 99% of the time - and NFC / contactless payments seem to be rapidly becoming the norm.

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As much as I try and do my bit environmentally I think people tend to get sucked into the plastic == bad mindset and forget that itā€™s single use throwaway plastics that are the main culprits, the straw, the cotton bud, the plastic wrapping most fruit/veg not the Tupperware containers and debit/credit cards which are meant to last years if not decades (or in the case of cards till the expiry).

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I think the only two uses are ATMs and Asda fuel pumps I use my card in, everything else is phone.

I could probably live without a physical card, as my NatWest can get cash from ATMs without needing a card. As ive already have the card Iā€™m not going to throw it away, but if thereā€™s an option not have a new one sent when it expires Iā€™ll probably got card free.

Doesnā€™t that NatWest feature require a NatWest account though? Guessing youā€™ve got that as a backup.

Same here - maybe one day new users will be given the choice of getting a physical cardā€¦!

Yep, I have Rewards account with NatWest that pays 2% back on direct debits and acts as backup.

I wish Monzo would make the Get Cash function.

In one of threads Monzo staff do talk of possibility of having it as an option in the onboarding so you can skip being sent one.

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Agreed. Ā£0 per month. One-off fee if itā€™s reasonable.

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Metal has a much higher carbon cost to produce than plastic, itā€™s more environmentally damaging to produce in general and it takes even longer to decompose than plastic. Not sure how binning a metal card every 2-3 years is better than a plastic one?

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It would be better to recycle though

Itā€™s more recyclable, and metal waste is generally less damaging to the environment than plastic. Excluding any toxic metals that is.

These cards are not 100% metal though they are plastic backed. Otherwise contactless would not work. So that argument is invalid, they will be worse for the environment for sure, more carbon to produce and leaves both metal and plastic behind.

The only benefits they have are purely cosmetic.

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True. But at least itā€™s half the card thatā€™s more recyclable

Could scrap your metal card when itā€™s expired for a few penceā€¦

Would you need a metal card to expire though? Look at apples new card and the revolut metal card. Neither have numbers on them, and the card number is generated at use, so you could in theory keep a metal card forever. It wouldnā€™t wear out like a normal plastic one. Not that with mobile pay applications you need to carry a card around so much. So maybe rather than a new card every so often, just one card that will last you for life is the way to go.

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The chip itself on a debut/credit card has a certain lifespan of typically 3 to 5 years anyway. So any card that has a chip will have to be replaced once in a while

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Keen for metal card, no itā€™s not necessary, yes I still want one. Anyone insider can update on what colour is the final product, and what pricing??

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Why not just do this with a plastic card? It seems like ā€œgenerating card numbers at useā€ and ā€œmetal cardsā€ are two separate things, with the latter potentially dependent on the former.

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I have to say I think the prototype Metal cards look great. But I think these should be offered outside of Plus and there should be no monthly fee.

Personally I think that a one off fee for these cards is the best way to proceed and if there can be increased longevity by using them match the Amex Metal card length by making them last for 5 years. Keeping them clean on the front is great and the plastic on the back with non embossed card numbers to ensure the durability stays high, iā€™m also hoping the back of the card includes a metal rim with a plastic insert so they donā€™t catch in the wallet and start to peel away from the back. Alternatively make the entire card metal and have no numbers on the card and make them app only.

Iā€™d say that somewhere between Ā£15-Ā£25 would be reasonable as a one off fee.

How much do the cards cost?

Almost certainly triple that number to be honest, given how much the Amex cards are.

Nah itā€™s not even gonna be a full metal card anyway as itā€™s gonna have a plastic core for contactless payments. If it was a full metal card then perhaps.

I doubt the card itself cost significantly more than thatā€¦ after all Amex donā€™t charge for the card itself but rather the features/benefits that come with it

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