Monzo Plus - Bi-Weekly Update 14th November 2019

[lpoolrob (Rob)]

@tomdavies

if it’s a core piece of functionality that everyone expects in a bank account, then we’ll include this in our free account.

Free cash deposits are on the way folks, you heard it here first

[Addzy]

And Cheque Imaging in app, don’t forget that

[l33t]

Please please PLEASE remember the “Investor” tags on the new cards

[johnbiondini]

THIS!

[Cerberus (There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.)]

Technically everything is made of star dust…

[Anarchist (Press ‘Help’ search ‘Contact us’ or email help@monzo.com or call 0800 802 1281)]

@Cerberus

Technically everything is made of star dust

Technically, you are right. But in the non technical world, everything is made out of dolphin tears

[Cerberus (There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.)]

Don’t be stupid, it’s unicorn tears

[OllieFarnden (Oliver Farnden)]

These updates get better and better as time goes on.

Bravo

[bhoylegend (Brendan)]

@tomdavies

We’re looking at partners with broad relevance across the UK, so we won’t be picking niche coffee shops in London that most of our customers can’t use! If you have more ideas, keep them coming.

As there isn’t much else for me to comment on in this update I will repeat what I said towards the end of the other thread that has just been closed. Please don’t forget that Northern Ireland is a distinct region in terms of services etc. Please ensure it is truly equal across all regions, or alternatively, source NI specific shops and services where the GB shop doesn’t operate here.

[BritishLibrary]

So card materials - my guess is they are made of the lovely locks of @simonb’s hair.

[gt94sss2]

@tomdavies

Power use features: if there is a feature that only a minority of our customer base really care about it, and it costs us time or money to build and maintain, then we’ll likely include these in a paid account. Without that revenue, it’s not something we’d be able to prioritise.

Thanks for the update.

I understand keeping core features free but can you give some examples of what you might consider power user features?

You will want to strike a balance between innovative/different features that Monzo offers for free to distinguish it from other providers core banking apps vs keeping features behind a paywall.

I’m all for Monzo creating a sustainable business and as a shareholder hope you are also asking the question that if these ‘power features’ are only of interest to a small subset of customers is it worth the time/resources to build and maintain them at all vs other development priorities - even if you might be offsetting this cost with Plus subscriptions (from that minority of customers).

[StuartL (Stuart)]

@tomdavies

Power use features: if there is a feature that only a minority of our customer base really care about it, and it costs us time or money to build and maintain, then we’ll likely include these in a paid account. Without that revenue, it’s not something we’d be able to prioritise.

This is my biggest concern. I understand the reasoning behind it but to some people instant notification of spending, categorisation and monthly spending reports would be considered to be for “power users”, some simply don’t care about them.
My point is that these features likely attracted a lot of customers to monzo because they were “advanced” compared to what they were used to, but also because they were free, now they are seen as “core”.

What is the future feature that may be seen as catering to power users only, but if offered for free would attract many more users and later be deemed to be a “core” feature.

Where do you draw the line on what is truly for power users and what just isn’t common place yet?

[BritishLibrary]

But to the main bit of the thread these are my thoughts:

Power use features: if there is a feature that only a minority of our customer base really care about it, and it costs us time or money to build and maintain, then we’ll likely include these in a paid account. Without that revenue, it’s not something we’d be able to prioritise.

I’m cautious about this statement, and would like to understand further what ends up counting as a ‘power user’ feature, or what the threshold is for the metrics to count here. My worry is with fintech apps that treat some features as ‘power user’ when the standard feature is closer to ‘training wheels’. Be interesting to see what ideas fall under this camp.

@tomdavies

We’re going to keep these under wraps until we release,

Any news on when that date is likely to be? And the same question for info on the plans themselves?

@tomdavies

And we’ve made sure to only use materials that are sustainably sourced.

Can I ask what this means in the context of packaging for Monzo?

On Packaging, one of my biggest bug bears of bank accounts is having this overly complex, and therefore really expensive, packaging. Slidey envelopes, thick boxes, etc. Personally, I’d prefer the premium to be in the account and not the one-time-use packaging it comes in.

For me, nice then would be a not too dissimilar version of your current card packaging. Maybe nicer paper or better printing + embossing. But please don’t do gimmicks.

And my final question - could you touch on what your research methodology actually consists of at some point? Would be curious in what kind of research you’re doing this time around and how it’s different.

Thanks once again for the update. Can’t wait for my Simon B’s Hair Card when it finally comes.

[Rat_au_van (Em)]

@BritishLibrary

Can’t wait for my Simon B’s Hair Card when it finally comes

Hair as in the musical?

[alawrence (Anthony 🛩️)]

You two are such teases! I imagine you’re the kind of people to keep winding people up about not knowing what their Christmas presents are too

@groenroos

“Only a minority use this” was also the rationale that made Google Chrome remove the “Re-open closed tab” menu item, much to the confusion, anger and panic of everyone.

You can just press CTRL+SHIFT+T (CMD+SHIFT+T for the light side).

@tbutz

I’m too cynical. The cards will be made of recycled Tesco bags-4-life, you just know it.

Will we have to pay 10p?

[BritishLibrary]

@BritishLibrary

So card materials - my guess is they are made of the lovely locks of @simonb’s hair.

Oh, and it could be called SiMonzo!

[l33t]

One thing re: travel insurance: I would have happily taken on the travel insurance but with asthma excluded as an existing condition it rules it out. It would be nice to have it included or a bolt on option policy as such.

[greganddorne (Greg)]

@tomdavies

We know this is important, but we’re focusing on getting the main current account absolutely spot on before we expand to joint accounts.

Need to be available to Joint account holders from launch…

[rasasu (Beta & Plustomer)]

Very well observed . Hahaha

[Justin]

@harryru

I assume we are talking about features like advanced budgeting options

I wouldn’t be willing to pay for budgeting features for my Monzo account alone.

If, however, the Monzo app helped me (via Open Banking) to budget across all my accounts and cards, sent me notifications for my transactions on those accounts, and also provided me with insights that I couldn’t get by using the apps of the other providers in isolation, I feel this is something that would be worth paying for.