Yes.
2 Likes
Exactly. Itâs nothing but waste. I see nobody else doing this and Monzo didnât even do it the last time.
Theyâve said before that sending out replacement cards costs ÂŁ4 (Iâm sure that was the figure) so when 1,000 people cancel in 3 months time, theyâve going to spend ÂŁ40k replacing cards that donât need to be replaced?
If Iâm completely honest, the environmental part of it isnât what bugs me. It just seems petty.
1 Like
Revolute, Lloyds, HSBC all do that if you stop their premium plans (Revolute Premium/metal, Club Lloyds/platinum Club Lloyds, HSBC Premier etc). So itâs not uncommon because they card youâre using represents the type of account youâre holding and is a feature of it.
3 Likes
Fair enough, I didnât realise it was so common.
If it was just a card swap over and the new coral one had exactly the same details on, it wouldnât be such an issue either.
1 Like
Thatâs fair enough, but as far as Iâm aware because itâs a fully issue MasterCard they canât put the same details on them because of MasterCard regulations etc.
The good thing is that Monzo actually lets you choose not to get a new card even going into a premium account, compared to other banks.
1 Like
Actually the banks I know of take the perks if you cancel but let you keep the card. It might be an extra fee to pay if you cancel early but you keep the card. Which is how it should be. Revolut for example letâs you keep the metal card and take away the perks. Yes you might need to pay a fee to cancel but you keep the card. Automating waste is just awful. Also if I have letâs say Monzo plus for a year, and I want that card , then fine. Letâs say I have It for 2 years. But then I cancel. No one is benefitting from sending out an automatic downgraded card. It cost money to Monzo, itâs wasteful , plus whatâs the point ? As previously itâs been said itâs petty and it has no real benefit to ANYONE.
2 Likes
As I said, they can do more yes. But itâs just the fact that this is one of the core benefits of their (re)new launch of their premium product thatâs growing.
So it might change in the future once itâs more popular, however right now itâs suppose to be one of the things youâre paying for.
Also, Revolut are also the company that do limited edition based cards where they launch different cards in limited quantities for people to buy.
Nationwide do this with their accounts,
HSBC like I said do that with their premier accounts,
Lloyds does it with Club Lloyds.
American Express technically can just let you keep a BA Premium card but only give you 1 avios to 1 point instead of 1.5 to 1
Starling offers those cards that you can load money on and give to others, what if you donât need to do that anymore, what if someone just orders multiple for their own usage etc.
But itâs part of the branding and in fairness to those banks (and other companies) why should they let people walk around using a product that that person doesnât pay for anymore or hasnât earnât it.
Iâd like to see more done about the environment yes, but maybe the companies can focus on carbon offsetting or greener energy for card production to shifting their offices to be run on greener energy.
At the end of the day, Monzo are still giving you the option to not order a new card if you are that worried about the plastic waste. So use that to your advantage and not get a new card even if you go to a premium account, because they could easily say âyou have to use the nee Plus card so you can be a walking advertisement every time you whip it out to payâ.
The fact that that isnât the case and you can still get the Plus benefits without doing so is already better than other banks in terms of card waste 
2 Likes
Ethical and purposefully wasteful are different things.
As an investor, are you happy that ÂŁ100k a year could be spent on replacing cards that donât need to be replaced?
I genuinely think the cancellation part has come for this reason:
A future plan will have a Metal card.
They donât want people to sign up for a Metal Card and cancel Plus after receipt.
And keep the metal card for ~5 years.
It keeps the terms aligned and neat.
But on other points made in this thread:
- It is more environmentally friendly to not produce unnecesary stickers regardless of how their cards are replaced
- It is more environmentally friendly to not have an expensive presentation box regardless of how their cards are replaced
- Monzo still need to protect their assets, revenue, etc and everything has to be balanced.
- The most environmentally friendly thing Monzo could do is to shut up shop and not have any environmental impact at all.
The thing that irks me the most - Iâve never seen any one question how energy efficient the rest of Monzoâs operation is? Do they use Green Energy, how are their data centres run? How do they ensure their servers are green, etc.
Itâs always about the cards.
1 Like
Got to disagree there, those topics have been done in the past.
2 Likes
OK fair point, Iâve not neccesarily seen those topics as frequently / commonly as the plastic card point then. But I still think Cards get a disporportionate amount of feedback in comparison to the overall âenergy effeciencyâ of Monzo.
Example thread - Monzo and the Environment
Quote from a member of staff âwe donât normally send you letters and our card carrying envelopes donât have plastic windows so itâs easy to recycle everything once you receive your cardâ
Kind of goes against sending out additional cards for no particular reason. I think that is what is irking some people - it is hypocritical as opposed to being concerned about plastic wastage.
1 Like
As tesco says âEvery Little Helpâ, if everyone in the UK thought âI wonât recycle that coke can as it wonât make a differenceâ, I wonder where we would beâŚ
3 Likes
This makes a lot of sense, except they seem to be applying to the plastic plus too, and itâs something that could be combatted through a longer minimum term. To me, it implies they donât have enough faith in the product offering to keep enough people surprised by itself and are expecting a number of people to only be enticed by and encouraged to keep paying just for the cool card. After what Iâve seen with the other banks that offer premium accounts, theyâre probably right. Most of the time, for millennials itâs about the bragging rights of a superior card.
Completely agree with all of this, and those are concerns I have too. As an end user though, itâs only really easy to visualise my impact on the environment when it comes to replacing cards. AFAIK Monzo donât have any clear transparent information in relation to this on their main website like other companies such as Apple. Until Monzo do something similar, I can only assume theyâre not proactively taking any of those steps to being a carbon positive company.
Thatâs probably true but Iâm not sending the metal/Plus card back, itâs not being melted down or reused by Monzo. By force replacing it, all they are doing is costing themselves money and causing hassle for the customer.
I have my card details saved on countless websites, when my card expires naturally, it will be a pain to update everywhere but Iâll do it. If I upgrade to Plus, Iâll go through that pain.
But if I cancel, I donât want to change it to the Plus numbers, then change it back again and have the Plus card go in the bin.
1 Like
I know itâs only ever going to be hypothesising until something comes up to confirm that theory - but I guess itâs trying to get the barrier to entry low enough (âI donât want to be tied in for 12 monthsâ) to encourage people to try it out, and also keeping terms as simple as possible for all products.
Not easy to get that right balance, and I think how Monzo have done it is a very good way. I nearly signed up to the N26 premium but didnât want to be tied to it for a year.
And I think this is where it stands. Maybe not âbragging rightsâ per say, but there is definitely a huge number of people who just want the premium card, not the premium account⌠And if Monzo donât cancel the card, people take advantage.
2 Likes
Thatâs why it could be a term that you can keep your card after 12 months for example. What I mean that itâs ok to find a work around and maybe discourage people from subscribing only for the card, but in the same time there should be a balance between inconveniencing everyone, creating automated waste and stop people abusing the system ( aka subscribing only for the card).
Could this be something possible to do in the future? Sending cards back to be recycled and re-used into new cards. I donât know enough to know if this is technically possible. But circular approaches makes me feel a little bit better buying and using things that are usually disposable. Rapanui does this for clothes, and they even pay you for your worn out clothes too. Ocado does (or did) do this for plastic carrier bags too, and some other plastic food wrappers.
I guess this is the crux of the matter. There is a reason, itâs just that some people donât agree or see the value in that reason.
At the end of the day the card is an optional part of Plus. Monzo have given the power of choice to the customer, itâs not about whether monzo are ethical or not and forcing it upon their customers.
Itâs the customerâs decision if they want to sign up to Plus, itâs their choice if they want the Plus card, itâs their decision if they then cancel and lose the things that comes with Plus membersip, and that includes the the card if theyâve opted for it.
4 Likes
Thatâs a really interesting perspective on this issue. I donât necessarily think giving that choice to the end user is probably the best thing to do! Just look at what happened with all the litter in the streets the day KFCs started reopening. We canât be trusted, sadly.
1 Like