To better explain myself, Monzo needs to achieve economics of scale in order to be profitable. If they make a paid product which has broad appeal to millions of users then the economics of scale help them keep costs down and compete on price as you can be profitable with small margin per paying user if thereās millions of those paying.
But if they make a product which only appeals to a small minority of hardcore Monzo fans then not enough people will sign up for it so they wonāt be able to offer good competitive pricing while still making profit.
Hi everyone! I was hoping to post our weekly update today, but I havenāt been feeling well
I should have it ready for everyone tomorrow. Have a lovely evening. If youāre in London this evening, take an umbrella but also wear shorts. Itās one of those days.
Just to echo what @tbutz said. I may have been quite critical recently but I can certainly wait a few more days until youāre back to 100% health. Get well soon
Great update and happy the team are starting again.
Iāve filled in the survey but also positive that all options are on the table at this stage.
Iām happy to pay for a subscription if they end product is exciting/rewarding. Some people will always want that for free, that will always be a tension.
That sentence just gave me a light bulb moment of what the problem is.
Monzos success seems to stem from it doing things differently to other banks. However, Monzo plus seems to be doing things the same as the legacy backs (packaged slightly different but still the same), hence it wasnāt a success.
Good decision. I hope the replacement for this offers great features and great value. I made a previous post detailing how I felt the bundles or the original Plus didnāt offer good value (in general, and compared to competition) - Iām fine with something more expensive, as long as itās worth it.
Try to offer something unique and useful, perhaps even something we donāt expect. Donāt just copy Revolut/Curve/whatever and offer exactly what they offer at the same or greater price again. Monzo did things differently and well, I hope youāll use the same ideology in rethinking Plus.
By the way, I see insurance listed on the survey. Iād actually like insurance (travel & medical) bundled in a package personally, but make it good insurance. I canāt remember your provider, but if it was White Horse Insurance like the rest of the banks with an insurance offering I hope youāll use someone else - I havenāt heard a single insurance success story from customers of banks that resell White Horse. They sound like an awful insurer.
One price for everyone, no matter of what they need. (ie Ā£14/month)
Phone insurance not taking into account the value of your phone. Customers with cheaper phones paying the same as flagship phone holders.
Forced travel insurance. I personally get it through my work - I need to pay for it even if I donāt need it. Feels messy, expensive and unorganised.
Same goes for roadside cover. I am personally covered through work, my bank and with my household account. Incredibly messy, loads of reference numbers and confusing.
Awful, or no interest.
What Monzo should do:
Interest offered to customers with subscriptions. Itās easy to say this was the biggest pushback when bundles were announced. Of course, the financial standpoint of offering interest is challenging - thatās for your new team to figure out. But I fully believe if you donāt offer it, it will be seen as a negative part of Monzo.
Flexible! Pick and mix, pick and mix, pick and mix! I personally liked the marketplace because you could select what you wanted. You were closer with V1 of Monzo Plus, the bundles made me feel a little bit sick like you were turning into a high street bank. I liked different features from different bundles, but had to pay for the full cost of all the bundles. I applaud you for turning away from this.
You probably already have the feedback but please donāt isolate software features and support behind a paywall. I think this is pretty clear anyway.
Donāt pay monthly for a metal card, seems greedy. Option to pay for the upgrade outright if someone wants it. Also, make it totally separate from the subscriptions. (Donāt make any subscription dependant on having metal)
I donāt think customers should either be labelled as āMonzoā or āMonzo Plusā. Monzo Plus should be a section of the app to purchase optional subscriptions.
Iāve been really keen to move to Monzo but the only thing stopping me is the lack of a package account. My wife and I currently have a joint Nationwide Flexplus account which is excellent value but I do most of my banking through the mobile app which isnāt great and they have now taken away the balance interest and fee free overdraft recently.
The things I would be looking for from Monzo plus would be:
Car breakdown including home start covering the driver not the car - a must for me
Mobile phone insurance
Travel insurance - Not as essential for me.
I like the idea of pick and mix but understand this would work out more expensive. One of the big things for me would be the joint account function. I would like this to be the same as Nationwide where if it is a joint account, the insurance/benefits cover both account holders for the same or a slight increase in cost.
As Nationwide is the best option for packaged accounts, I would suggest trying to emulate this to start with the attract more customers, and then add extra features once it is well established.