Monzo Plus - Flash Poll(s)!

Two things:

  • Link virtual card to pot
  • Add virtual card to Apple Pay
2 Likes

My exact list

3 Likes

Nested categories is a great idea. I hope that they implement that.

2 Likes

Extending Plus to the Joint Account is a must - for the Custom Categories. But I imagine that some sort of Joint Account offering is in the works - I think that I saw a staff member post as such somewhere already.

I was on the fence about the last version of Monzo plus, I thought it was on the edge of being good/useful/worth paying for, but needed some tweaking.

Below is my initial thoughts when I saw Monzo latest offering. Convince me to change my negative view and show me the worth-while positives that make it worth giving Monzo Ā£60 a year!

  1. 1% interest on up to Ā£2000, If I was on basic rate tax, thatā€™s Ā£16 interest a year! Less if you pay higher tax rates.

  2. Holographic card in an age where less and less people even bother pulling a card out of their wallet, or even bother taking a wallet with them anymore because all payments can be done via your phone. People fought hard to keep banks handing out cheque books. Itā€™s like this all over again. Cards have their place and times when they are useful, but a card design simply isnā€™t worth paying money for.

  3. Virtual cards - How is this any better than existing technology provided by your smart phone which everyone of your customers already have. Apple/Google pay or paypal have been around for years! I trust Appleā€™s security more than Monzoā€™s.

  4. Credit tracking - this is done for free by so many apps, a great one being ClearScore

  5. Exports into GOOGLE (we track everything) sheets? Why would you want to force people into google sheets when you could just automate exporting CSV, use Siri Shortcuts as another example, or IFTTT for a 3rd example. Google sheets is a mess.

  6. Seeing other bank accounts - This was actually an interesting idea. However, can you please be clear about what Monzo seeā€™s and tracks when I connect my bank accounts into your app.

I simply donā€™t understand what it is I would be paying for. I spend Ā£5 a month on a TV subscription and I get entertainment for my family for so many hours each month. But for Ā£5 a month with Monzo I getā€¦ to create new categories to divide my payments into. Oh and Ā£16 interest if my tax rate is in the right bracket.

I think time and money would have been better spent on investment products that help change the mentality of this country from constantly borrowing and spending on needless stuff, to encourage people to save money, invest it, clear their debts.

3 Likes

LMAO, why would you need to link a virtual card to Apple Pay?
Apple Pay uses virtual card when you pay via the service, people do not see your actual bank card they see an apple one.

I do disagree with some of your points - and for me there is a valid use case:

The great thing here is this is literally all my data - and I can then go on and do what I please with it; knowing it is always live and accurate. For people whoā€™ve asked for better tracking, better budgeting, better overviews - this allows for that. There are so many examples already of people making powerful dashboards of their data.

CSV export is already available, IFTTT has limited capabilities. So sure other integrations might be good, but this is a good feature, if you are at all interested in the Data.

The point is not so much about different technology, but having the ability to have discrete card details that can be used for different purposes. This feature isnā€™t about trusting Monzo over apple - itā€™s litereally just another card you can use. It might be a bit basic right now, but the future of this will hopefully come with many more functions.

If Pay from Pot becomes possible - it unlocks a whole new way of spending allocated funds. My use case would be to link my Virtual Card as my defualt transit card for travel. Comes from my ā€œTrainsā€ budget. Or you could set one up on your Kids phone with a limited spend value, etc. The fact that Apple is already Virtual is not the point of the use case - itā€™s about ring fencing your money and spending differently.

1 Like

Itā€™s only Ā£16 if youā€™ve already used up your personal savings allowance of Ā£1,000 tax free interest per year elsewhere. For those who havenā€™t (i.e. almost everyone) the interest is Ā£20/year.

I see it as software upgrades (e.g. enhanced categorization, account aggregation, virtual cards, extra round up savings options, auto-exports) mixed in with a few non-software extras (e.g. new card, in-credit interest, some foreign spending and PayPoint benefits).

I donā€™t know how you feel about paying for software but I think those who are not keen on paying for software are less likely to be impressed.

1 Like

I donā€™t think everyone realises that this limit is only on the interest youā€™re allowed to earn, not how much you can save! It puts people off saving.

1 Like

I think thatā€™s a fair view - Iā€™m hoping that the software features (mainly data) can help me save more money, to make it worth it.

1 Like

I donā€™t mind the idea of paying for better software, especially when that software launches as polished as the plus features did. Well thought out, well designed, coherent, and well implemented. I hope they continue releasing products to that new standard theyā€™ve set here, and they bring the older half baked stuff up to that same standard and I will be happy to continue subscribing for the software enhancements.

2 Likes

Personally Iā€™d like the option of just paying for software enhancement without any of the other stuff. Assuming account aggregation gets improved (so that it gets enrichment, analytics, budgeting etc) Iā€™d certainly pay something like Ā£2 per month for software enhancements on its own.

2 Likes

Not only am I not subscribing to Monzo Plus, Iā€™m reconsidering Monzo full stop.

Basically, joint account support is terrible. Why canā€™t I pay my Monzo loan from my joint account? Use my arranged overdraft on my joint account? Use Monzo Plus on my joint account?

Monzo are losing their USP. They are no longer way ahead of their competitors. Theyā€™re getting dragged backwards and other banks are catching up. Charging for Monzo Plus and not even allowing joint account support is appalling.

Itā€™s been fun Monzo, but Iā€™ll be looking again at Starling as my primary account provider.

5 Likes

Goodbye then :wave: it wasnā€™t needed to register just for this

Constructive criticism of all things Monzo is very welcome here, just look at the Pride icon topic. But youā€™ve added very little to the conversation and just came here to tell us Monzo is rubbish and youā€™re leaving

As I said below, I disappeared before I had a chance to edit my comment above and add a bit more context. I feel like registering on a forum to only say your product is rubbish and Iā€™m going elsewhere isnā€™t constructive feedback.

Monzo employees have worked really hard to develop this product and had to see it delayed months because of the pandemic, and Iā€™m sure this isnā€™t what they want to see.

Furthermore, the comment is more or less off-topic as it criticises joint account feature parity in a Monzo Plus topic.

No one is forcing you to pay for Monzo Plus if you donā€™t want to ā€“ if itā€™s not for you, thatā€™s ok. That doesnā€™t make the product bad, and expressing ā€œsomething isnā€™t for meā€ can be done in a much nicer way than using strong language like ā€œappallingā€ to describe features other people worked on for months.

3 Likes

Excuse me? I can comment on whatever I please, it has nothing to do with you. My opinion is equally as valid as yours. I might have only just registered but Iā€™m a long time Monzo user.

Or is this community only for those who blindly praise Monzo?

I didnā€™t say Monzo was rubbish. I said they risk undoing the good will they have built up over the years. So like I say, jog on

7 Likes

I have to agree with @ndrw here - youā€™re more than entitled to your opinion, but I think most of us have very little idea about how much effort goes into the smallest of features.

I imagine expanding certain features into a joint account is not only difficult, but also very time consuming and (possibly) not necessarily as much of a demand as some might think, seeing as we donā€™t all have a joint account but all of us have a sole account with Monzo.

I know itā€™s obviously features you care about, and thatā€™s perfectly fine, but I think itā€™s easy to forget that Monzo doesnā€™t yet have the backing that a lot of other banks do, especially when Monzo are putting their efforts into making a user-friendly and technologically advanced banking experience for users so things are transparent and easy to use/navigate.

I think itā€™s okay for people to simply say they donā€™t like something, and what they intend to do as a result. It may not be constructive feedback, but itā€™s feedback nonetheless and it lets Monzo see at the very least that someone is unhappy with what theyā€™re doing, and try to do better to cater to those users if there are enough of them?

To be perfectly honest, Iā€™m not even sure I see how their opinion wasnā€™t constructive. They state clearly what they donā€™t like about Monzo and their new plus offering. Thatā€™s feedback as far as I can tell. Is it constructive? I think, but Iā€™m not sure I can decipher the difference between constructive and non-constructive feedback.

Theyā€™ve explained theyā€™re unhappy with whatā€™s being offered, explicitly stating what aspects of it theyā€™re not satisfied with.

Sometimes, I think just expressing dissatisfaction is okay so long as youā€™re not confrontational about it. But their feedback feels quite constructive to me. :man_shrugging:

4 Likes

To be fair, it was his attitude that got my back up. You may be right about the effort involved in making the product joint account compliant but I donā€™t appreciate being told that my opinion is worthless.

Again, just an opinion, but not a good introduction to the community, and not a good way to make people feel welcome.

2 Likes

Please try not to respond to a users tone. Itā€™s hard to discern over the internet and goes against the community guidelines.

I personally donā€™t think youā€™re doing anything wrong by sharing your opinion on Monzo here, but perhaps it may be more helpful to approach it from a different perspective. Try thinking about what might make Monzo better for you rather than just pointing out what you donā€™t like. I think the way you worded your feedback made it feel non-constructive to them.

I hear you. I just assumed that I was in a community of adults where honest opinions would be valued rather than fanboys who are offended at any criticism of the product in question.

But thanks, Iā€™ll take your advice on board

1 Like