Well if you wouldnt like double cash back then that’s your choice I guess.
I just know others didnt have the ability to save enough to offset part of the cost but cashback such as the 2% supermarket one would be useful for them.
Lots of saving pots are nice when you have decent savings instead of not earning a much pence from an interest bearing direct debit pot but if you are on Plus getting extra cashback would be a positive for a lot of people, look at the hard sell that goes on for banks that offer capped 1% or even curve (I have seen people here say they offset the cost of curve using their 1% cashback) as well which adds the cashback as a feature of the sub.
It may not be ideal for you if you have enough savings to top out the old cap but many many dont and getting an extra skim off cashback is a feature other banks have such as Direct Debits for certain bills with a cap.
The devil would be in the offers though to be fair and I wouldnt want it to replace everything, just value add.
EDIT: Some of the USA stuff would be nice as well, I wasnt saying it would, I wonder if its easier to move faster in the USA because they dont have a license yet. So much can be held back with dotting the regulations.
EDIT 2: No doubt if some of the USA stuff came to Plus/Prem people would instantly pleep it should be free like Y bank and how its not fair as is the way of the world.
It’s not the cashback that’s the problem. It’s what I have to give up in order to be eligible. It’s not something I’ll ever opt into. It’s why I live in Apple’s ecosystem and not Google’s.
Now if they wanted to do cashback on plus without the privacy trade off, then I’m game, but it’s not a feature I particularly care about or want necessarily.
Monzo excels at the software far better than anyone else when they really set their mind to it, and I’d rather that’s where the focus be if they can’t compete on price without compromising privacy. But the U.K. team really feels like it’s lost its focus in that respect lately. Or the savings team just really don’t get what Monzo is about. Because they’re ruining the overall Monzo product with their savings one IMO.
I said it in the other thread, but the recent change they made to plus/premium, which likely sparked this thread, are really just the final straw. The original value plus had just isn’t there anymore and hasn’t been for a while. It never kept pace with the market, or evolved. Premium features gradually became free ones in the cost of living crisis (and good on Monzo for doing that). But the end result is Monzo Plus has only evolved to be of less and less value over time. Stripping the interest across the current account and all pots was really just the last thing it had going for me besides connected accounts.
You do you I guess, Monzo may not be a perfect bank for you but given the huge interest in their cashback scheme it would imply that Monzo’s T & C arent a big issue for me or the others using cashback, I do know how capable companies could try and de-anonymise (but they would need an opt in from somewhere to get specific details) but I also know they can possibly get this anyway without monzo cashback if there was value, there isnt an easy way to opt out from all the data brokering.
Like I said before though the devil would be in the detail, its just an idea
If I recall Barclays went to go and sell a lot more it at one point and I have not dug into other banks that may/may not, and Google wholesale hoovers this data, this is before we get to loyalty schemes (or tesco price…) I guess they are of no interest either to you.
What do you think initially spurred my interest in fintech in the first place?
The business account is still with Barclays but it’s not feasible to move it and they’ve been rock solid. The privacy aspect is less of an issue there for me (it’s non-personal) and I don’t think it applies to businesses anyway.
As long as Monzo’s cashback remains an opt in only thing, I’ve no qualms of it existing for those who don’t mind the trade off. But because of that trade off there’s just no perceived value there for me, to factor it into the cost of Plus should they do that. So it’d still need a lot more.
I don’t subscribe to things like loyalty schemes either. Where I’m able to have that choice and control, I’ll avoid data brokerage if I can help it. These sorts of products just aren’t for me.
TL;DR I love the discourse around all banks and hope we can continue for a good while yet, my thoughts specifically around plus/premium below.
Just to sort of answer @davidwalton‘s question, I stick around because i quite like the discourse and the people here. That I can talk about other banks is great and I’d hope that can continue. I’m hoping no one actually leaves as a result of the thread.
Back to Monzo. I’m also here because I at one point loved Monzo. Heck i was even #fullmonzo and that’s what bought me here to you kind folks.
What also keeps me around is the hope that one day something comes around that gives me that magic spark and entices me back in, but this hasn’t happened yet.
Onto plus and premium. I was really excited, and then not at all, around the update. I appreciate that there’s only so much you can do to be different to others, and showing your cards too soon might give others the edge.
But here’s my plea - step away from the product Monzo. Focus on the vision, the success metrics and share them here. What do you think the product vision is? The objectives and key results you’re aiming for.
Be transparent around high level objectives with a simple roadmap. I know these things are hard to maintain but transparency builds trust. It also stops people coming on here asking for repeated updates because you’ve not kept them informed.
I’m hoping for a truly groundbreaking premium product that brings me back, but I need taking on the journey because it hasn’t happened yet.
A few things from me I’d like to see to improve the Premium tier offering specifically.
firstly the recent change in how interest is applied is a bit of a pain, can we go back to earning interest on the whole account balance instead of just savings pots?
I find I’m now keeping minimal money in my day to day account, keeping it in a savings pot instead and moving money over as I need it (which is a pain), or using Flex more and paying it off at the end of the month by moving money from a savings pot.
i also use a bills pot for budgeting, I pay into it to cover the bills for the month ahead on pay day, sometimes depending on how things fall this money can sit there for almost a month- I’d love to earn interest on that to make it work for me while it’s sat there.
in terms of the insurance offerings in premium, I’d like to see a more varied offering, perhaps purchase protection and maybe breakdown cover added. Along with mobile phone and travel insurance maybe we can pick 2 out of say 4 or 5 offerings that suit us as individuals best. I know I won’t use the phone insurance for example because I have AppleCare.
also looking at similar account offerings from say Revolut and Curve, they also offer things like subscriptions to certain apps or publications for around the same price as premium- could be something to look at (FT subscription could be good given the new investments feature)
lastly I think a refresh of the “Offers” section is long over due, there’s only 6 offers in there now (I’m sure there used to be many more a few years ago?)
Let’s have some more choice.
Am I the only person who actively doesn’t want insurance? I have my own insurance for the things I need it for, and I don’t want some other, less tailored one from my bank invalidating it. I hope that if insurance is added to plus it’s at least something we can opt into.
For me, the things I want from a premium bank account are generally things to do with the bank account. Though there are certain random other things I wouldn’t turn my nose up at of course! I just feel like they’re all going to be things that every subscriber is paying for but only some will actually want/need, moreso than in bank features.
Also I really hope they don’t undo the interest change, I still maintain that that’s not the solution to the issue. The solution is letting people have multiple pots earning that savings rate. The potential interest that can be earned is way higher with the new method, its problem is just that it forces all the money into one pot, which is a problem with the way savings pots work. Let all pots get that interest rate (without segregating them off into a different section of the app please!) and the issue goes away.
There is a range of options, just sadly not with Monzo. I’ve got a Nationwide account solely to get AA Cover, phone and travel cover for 13 quid a month.
Don’t really need the travel insurance but it works out cheaper than having AA and phone separately.
am sure we’ll get an official response in the JA topic once it goes live for real