Monzo Plus - Small Scale Trial

I won’t be closing my Nationwide FlexPlus any time soon!

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I never get invite to the party!

Be interesting to see what the options between £3 and £12 are, I need something more then Merch

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I’m not overly wowed with either offer, the £3 offer sounds like the “ultimate Monzo fanboy” pack; whilst the £11 is very close in price to Revolut metal which offers more.

Overall card colour wise I like the look of the Lagoon Blue card, however I use my card so rarely as I have Google Pay.

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Super interesting. Sounds like they are doing a bit of A/B testing with different options - so I wonder if there are multiple Plus options on the go and they will be tracking engagement a bit.

For all those who said they don’t like Hot Coral - maybe £3 a month is the decent enough to prompt a switch.

For me, I think it’s a shame it seems to be a ‘selection box’ of different perks/bundles, rather than the full ‘buffet’ approach that many seemed to like.

I have a feeling the insurance package is no better than any Fintech banks insurance (given it’s with Zurich like most seem to be), and a shame it doesn’t cover gadgets.

Assuming a normal annual package is about £60, then I’m spending about £6/month for the benefit of increased £200 of fee free withdrawals… Which at 3% would cost me… £6…

So, not sure about it on the whole.

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I too won’t be closing my Nationwide anytime soon although once my salary is paid in I transfer most into my Monzo as I’m finding I’m using it more and more at home and abroad.

I recalled sometime ago when I was with Barclays Premier and you could upload a photo of your choice for your card for free.
Methinks £3 just to have a different colour card might be a stretch. Will happily rethink should offering be close enough or better my current FkexPlus.

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Maybe it’s silly… but I’m happy to pay £3 for card colour:)

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I’ve also just looked at Pluto Insurance, the provider they have partnered with.

Their basic package, which I assume is similar to the above - give the £1500 limits mentioned:

£65 / year.

= £5.42 / month.

Meaning £5.50 / month for the increased fee free limit (which would cost you £6 in fees normally), and a new card colour.

Overall, my feeling is there isn’t a significant amount of value to the end user here.

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£3 a month though isn’t it?

So £72 over the average lifespan of a card.

:neutral_face:

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That’s one heck of a markup! If you deduct the £3pm for Monzo Plus, it’s an extra £2.50 per customer per month Monzo are pocketing.

You would have thought the offering would be cheaper than the Pluto price point due to referral discount.

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Personally, I don’t think the price should be compared directly to the constituent parts if you go separately.

The idea is that it’s a convenient, packaged account … Similar to how people go for package holidays or travel agents vs doing it themselves.

If you’re breaking it down so granularly, it’s probably not for you.

I’d probably assess the cost, and look at it as paying my way into Monzo (outside of investment!). My one requirement, would probably be the option to pay annually (and probably pay 10 months + 2 free?)

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Cost certainly isn’t the only problem - I don’t like how they tie you into everything for 12 or 6 months myself

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nothing in my feed😔

This is true. There’re lots of questions about it, can you cancel? What happens if you close your account? Can you cancel & still keep the fancy card? Is the card only valid for 12 months? So many things.

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I’m always surprised at how much interest there is in card designs and colours. I (maybe wrongly) assume most are using Apple/Google Pay etc? I can’t remember the last time I pulled my card out of my wallet.

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I disagree.

Monzo is pitched as a bank helping you budget and be better with your money. This looks like profiteering and contradicts their ethos.

Whilst I agree they need to become profitable and this package will appeal to some, it certainly seems excessive to me. The insurance alone for cost price (or even a slight markup if you factor in convenience) is tempting. But double the price for a different colour card and a t-shirt?!

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I don’t think it goes against their ethos? Their ethos is helping people budget & be better with money. The option of offering a plus account to people doesn’t go against this? They’re not forcing people into it, and not hiding any key budgeting features behind it.

Also, sometimes, people are willing to pay a premium for convenience or just to support their bank… there’s 2 different packages on offer here, and I doubt the cheaper one will be sticking around with such “one-off” benefits vs recurring items like insurance etc.

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I do find your second point interesting there - would people just sign up to this just to support Monzo? I personally wouldn’t as it needs to make financial and beneficial sense to me but I wonder if this is the case?

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That’s what I was thinking with the reply above. Crowdfunding I can understand, but throwing money at a bank seems a little extreme.

I get that Monzo need to become profitable, but overcharging for products doesn’t seem like a good business case as so many shop around in comparison sites.

If it is something that someone will pay for, then good for them. For me, it’s not cost-effective or good value so I’ll shop around.

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Completely agree with you. Monzo is still a business and I wouldn’t just throw money at any company blindly if it didn’t help me too

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Just reread the offerings. I have never been a fan of paid accounts anyway, but what’s on offer here just seems so generic?

The offers are boring, likely overpriced and lacking the invention you’d expect from something Monzo would be excited about.

It’s very meh. Can’t be what they were expecting. Anyone from Monzo want to comment on what got left on the ideas board? Can’t be any worse then the offer…

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