I would personally jump at a Monzo Plus card if it offered things like a 26-30 railcard
In all seriousness though, great idea! I don’t personally use the cashback offers on my legacy bank account, but I like dreaming of the day Monzo can offer things like this.
I think could potentially work as long as they are careful not to push people away by putting features behind a pay wall. Stuff which costs money like mobile insurance and travel cover etc make sense to pay for etc. But keeping back the ability to use Apple Pay or summary or 24/7 support (random examples) unless you pay would be a massive no no for me.
I hate how some providers make you pay for the debit card .
I think stuff like a metal card is a bit of a gimmick. It doesn’t really add any value to what you’re paying for.
Maybe having a list of various add ons you can turn off and on rather than have a set price for all additional items could work. That way it’s flexible if you only want to pay for travel insurance or mobile cover.
Curious how this would tie into a Monzo marketplace with other providers listed trying to supply you the same services. Does the idea overlap their plans for that a little?
Rather than you paying monzo x per month/year for a group of things you may/may not use, there are gong to make it seamless for you to pick and mix these services from within the the app…
So long as I can get what I already have for less, the same or a slight increase I’m OK with that. I don’t want a marketplace where I save a couple of quid with Monzo compared to going direct.
Whilst I’m super excited about JA’s with Monzo, this is why I love my Nationwide JA. I use all of the features and have had real value from them.
I would definitely pay for Monzo Plus but my feeling is it’s not something Monzo would offer - and rather would outsource via Marketplace. If service standard is the same and the price is the same or similar, it’s a done deal.
Agree with this. And while I would (cost permitting) probably pay for Monzo+ with a few bells and whistles, it doesn’t feel very “Monzo” - it stratifies the user base into the haves and have nots which just seems wrong.
That said, I think an interesting middle ground might be a set of curated products from the Marketplace that can be bought together, potentially at a discount. This isn’t Monzo+ but a package of third party provide services. If I could manage travel and gadget insurance through the Monzo app for a similar (cheaper?) price to the (for example) Nationwide offering, that would be amazing.
Not really: It “stratifies” into the wants and want nots. It’s not like you need to fulfil certain criteria for these types of account (as far as I know). It’s just that you have to decide if the benefits are worth the fee for you.
That being said, I also guess that this is much more a “marketplace” sort of thing, which would allow you to make your bespoke package of benefits with the providers you like. The beauty of the packaged accounts, of
course, is the one-point-of-contact aspect which would likely get lost in a marketplace type implementation.
I want, I have; you don’t want, you have not. Semantics.
But that’s not really the point. Lest it gets lost, I was trying to say that - for me at least - different services based on fees paid don’t feel congruent with what I perceive to be the Monzo culture or philosophy about these things. Just one man’s opinion on the internet, though.
I’d agree that a packaged account is probably one of the quickest and easiest ways for a fintech to break even or turn a profit. That’s almost certainly why N26 and Revolut offer them.
Do you have a packaged account? It’s usually multiple points of contact, with services white labelled under the bank’s brand. If you’re “lucky” you might get one phone number with “press 1 for mobile insurance. Press 2 for travel…” but in my experience there’s sadly a lack of a single point of contact - outside of the subscription / cancellation process.
This is a good point and one I discovered recently myself. All the services underneath are run by other organisations and the bank just slaps their logo on the top and takes a slice of the cash for the convenience.
I totally agree regarding your point about what Monzo stands for.
Maybe they could offer a marketplace bundle which ties in various services from the marketplace under one cost for a cheaper total price discount and also make some money from that for themselves. That way the consumer still has the option to choose the individual bundle products and sign up to them separately if they do choose.
I imagine it similar to how the App Store bundles work on games etc: Example Bundle
That’s how I imagine the Monzo way of doing it (in my own view)
That already exists. It’s called Nationwide. Combined, covering a whole family, you pretty much can’t get all those services for less money. Roll it into a joint account and it’s £6.50 each. Keep £2,500 in the account and the interest knocks another £6.25 off per month (almost half).
You don’t need to actually use the account, simply send over £13 every month to cover the fee.
Well, yes. Nationwide was kinda the context for the conversation!
My initial thought was more about whether a combination of products could be purchased from the Marketplace without tying it to a separate current account product as firms like Nationwide do. I agree with @Jackcrwhitney that an App Store style bundle might be interesting to pursue. And as a few of us discussed earlier, the Nationwide product is really just a rebranded bulk-sale of a number of different providers’ products, so it’s not really clear who the relationship is with (although Nationwide is, of course, essential in creating and selling the bundle).
So is this thought it a million miles away from Nationwide? No.
Is there a market for it? Well there certainly seems to be…
Could the Marketplace provide more transparency about exactly what you’re buying, from whom and what commission goes where? I’d like to think so!
If you can afford to keep that 2.5k in the account then just over £6 seems to be great value. I wonder how much Nationwide makes on its packaged accounts, or if it’s designed to break-even / loss lead?
and wave bye-bye to my current account in a flash. 
.
but my feeling is it’s not something Monzo would offer - and rather would outsource via Marketplace. If service standard is the same and the price is the same or similar, it’s a done deal.
