I do - feedback can, and should, be both positive and negative. And I get why (including myself) people felt the way they did. So I’m not saying there shouldn’t have been negative feedback, nor should monzo not be open to accepting it. My point was more at the personal nature some of it held and how that landed into the mind of someone already stressed and acutely aware of the problematic launch, and why they might personally be reluctant to go through that again.
Should Monzo release how things are going with Plus, and what their thoughts are and the good/bad points of this plus? Probably. Is it realistic to expect the regular updates we may have once had or even the engagement here from them. Not really - that requires resource and time.
I agree with your point above about the loss of great folk here to read posts. And also the forum, I personally think as monzo grows this is more admin that benefit, but I don’t work for them so maybe they find it useful.
Yes. As Monzo’s changed, this among other things made me leave. I still visit this forum out of habit - shows how much a daft bank account meant to me at one point I guess.
I really appreciate Simon filling us in still from beyond the graveP45. One thing I’d stress though, is that none of us were wrong to believe in radical transparency as a goal. I can’t see it as having had to be sacrificed for the greater good. I think that the loss of that particular part of Monzo’s culture was a failing, intentional or otherwise, and the company and product are worse off for it.
Personally, I want to chase after the people and organisations that promote this kind of culture instead of getting used to a place that has lost it for good.
Agreed plus is absolutely useless, have no issue with monzo making money. They need to. But God plus is rubbish. Obviously everyone wants different things, but if they just copied coop premium for same price, that would be amazing.
The pick and mix idea was great, and the original incarnation was far better than current, one. I just hope they are planning to add decent stuff worth paying for.
1 Like
tbutz
(🏳️🌈 Producer of "low value commentary")
47
You’re entitled to have an opinion, but just saying “Plus is rubbish” is not really engaging with the subject.
WHY is it rubbish? Is it just because the features are something you cannot use?
What did Co-op premium offer, because it doesn’t appear to be available to new customers, so how can you compare it if it’s not available?
Same reason as everyone else has said. Credit reports are free through multiple sites and it’s not even using a particular good one.
Increased limit before fees abroad, most of us who travel have other accounts that don’t charge fees at all, like monzo used to. Yes it would be nice all in one place but 400 isn’t enough for that.
A new card is just pointless.
Interest is nice, but interest rates are so low it’s meaningless.
Savings/cashback is again very limited and plenty of other companies offering a far wider range.
Etc
Coop premium I can compare as I have it, wasn’t aware it wasn’t to new customers.
gadget insurance up to 4 devices
Phone insurance up to 4 devices
World wide travel insurance
Europe wide break down cover for you.
All of these features are actually worth money. Not credit reports or a different colour card. Other banks offer similar sort of insurance policy and stuff which are worth having.
Some people don’t want to sign up to different services to get things in different places.
Monzo Premium will more than likely cover all that you’re describing from Co-Op. I wouldn’t pay for all those things. But that doesn’t mean it’s rubbish or pointless.
I agree no one was wrong to believe in it, but I can also see why it is really hard to scale.
I’ve worked in a company that has seen massive growth and it’s easy to comuicate when you’re small; you just shout across the room to see what should be included in the update.
But as the company grows and inviduals turn into teams, and teams into departments it becomes harder to communicate consistantly amongst the ever changing priorities of individuals, teams and departments.
This is then compounded when you become even bigger and the comms are more likely to be commercially sensitive, now you’re having to ask yourself will this do us more harm than good if we share this information. When you’re small it’s not likely to matter as much.
I do miss the early days of the community and radical transparency but I think Simon has summed it up perfectly…
Monzo is a different beast now to what it was, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad; it’s still an awesome bank.
I agree and also think there may be a noticeable cut-off date in expectations
I joined in July 2018 in the 900,000s and just after the big push on banking features, and have used it as my main bank throughout that time
I don’t think for me it has been as obvious a change. Maybe a bit less staff interaction on here, but also an increasingly polished and stable offering. I see nothing that either HSBC - my legacy - and Starling - my brief interlude - have added in that time that I would miss as a personal banking customers
I guess if you picked up your Alpha card in person from @tristan in an “up and coming” part of East London it would seem much more dramatic
Maybe Monzo shouldn’t have decided on a business plan that demanded such growth.
If, as we seem to accept, growing into a very large company means having to abandon core reasons for starting said company then why do it?
Not every company has to take over the world.
But then… I must accept that viable alternative business plans aren’t exactly lying around. One does get the impression that you couldn’t start a bank small and grow slowly without losing a quite a lot of money.
Yes, but I do now feel that I’m not going to get the finished product I was expecting/waiting for without paying.
Monzo excited me becuase it seemed to be trying to show what banking should be as a basic service to everyone. Now it could end up being an average product with great service for Premium Clients - like the entire bank sector.
I’m not going anywhere yet, but I’m not excited by it any more - and I won’t be shouting about how good it is to anyone who’s not a customer yet.
Yes, I always try and pay for services I think are worthwhile. However I expected categories to be improved and then found out that was reserved for paying customers.
I made a business account for a sole trade of about £1k turnover that I’ve always done in a notepad because I wanted to support their business banking project. I was just about to sign up to the last iteration of Plus to get contents and gadget insurance through Monzo - however now I find I have to pay for the basics I’m left debating whether I want to pay to support Monzo or not.
Barclaycard permit the creation and assigning of custom categories. If Barclaycard turned around and wanted to charge a monthly fee to access this functionality, there would be outrage.
Maybe there would be outrage, but that’s not what happened here
I am just wondering at Fergus’ thought process of thinking of leaving because enhanced custom categories are worthwhile to him and he pays for things that are worthwhile to him and they’ve been made available to pay for
Fair enough, this was more of a general comment in response than a specific one addressing the previous few comments. Personally, I’ve no reason to leave though I’d not pay for categories as I don’t make much use of them.
That said, if someone has been a customer sticking around expecting things to improve in general, such as improvements to categories, and they see them announced as a premium only feature I could understand it pushing them over the edge.
No - categories aren’t worthwhile unless you can customise and split. The current system feels like a placeholder, and I am not willing to pay for it to be made right as that encourages the practice of charging for basic features and marginalises those who cannot afford.
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that Monzo’s method of delivering a minimal viable product and then never really revisiting it or announcing improvements isn’t going to work for a paid product, and I think the expectations of updates for Plus already suggest this. Expectations increase exponentially the moment you start charging for something.
