Sure – I don’t think it does either of these things, but I agree that care must be taken around these points more generally.
Maybe they’re pulling a blinder here!
Susbscribe and spend £18, at the end of that you get the money back with some interest and an email from them saying “look at what you could have done with that money if you’d invested it!”.
Let’s not assume that just because there’s debate there’s any actual disagreement going on if we can help it. The tone that we read posts in carries far more perceived emotion than the actual words themselves.
This is (hopefully) a discussion not an argument and given that there’s largely two of us having a back-and-forth in true forum ping-pong style it would be hard to become ‘sided’. Please don’t try and build it into something it isn’t.
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And if that’s what it is I’d agree with you. I’m just not ready to make that judgement call yet without seeing the results of the trial (which we may never see, of course).
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That’s not really for us as the customer to decide. They’ve said that they will be transparent unless there is a good reason to not be. While I don’t see a good reason here, it’s not my judgement to make.
Just because it’s not good value for someone, myself included, doesn’t mean it isn’t for someone else.
Again, how do you know that? The general public certainly doesn’t seem to care, it’s just us forum folk who are tussling on about it.
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I’m not - please don’t accuse me of something without being able to back it up.
I didn’t like the constant reminding him of the fact it was his opinion only - that’s stating the obvious, he knows it’s his opinion, he didn’t claim to be stating facts. Also, saying that Monzo should just ignore the opinions on here is a bizarre thing to say. Might as well shut this down if that’s the case. Some of the responses had a condescending tone to them. Admittedly it’s difficult to gauge the intended tone but that’s how it came across. No offence intended.
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Hmm. Not the most helpful response with ‘his opinion’ being ‘obvious’ and mine being ‘bizarre’. 
Let’s leave it there I think and get back on topic.
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He didn’t say that ‘his opinion’ was obvious, but rather that it was obvious that the posts in question represented the poster’s own views.
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Jesus, this escalated a little bit from when I last read it. 
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Ultimately all of us want Monzo to succeed.
I had reservations myself about the value proposition in these trials but ultimately it’s always a good thing to be experimenting.
Hopefully all the feedback here will ultimately lead to this being a much better value proposition when it’s ready for the big time.
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If you read some of the posts, they come across as stating facts:
They’re slightly bizarre when presented with no sources to back them up (how can a bank with 1/3 the customers be ‘bigger’?), so I think it’s valid to ask where they’re from. I’m finding it hard to take the analysis seriously when seemingly made-up ‘facts’ are thrown in; I think some sources or further explanation would help a lot.
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Moving this on a bit, I’ve had some time to digest and have a few reflections.
Initially, I was very sceptical of these offers. But as I’ve thought it over, I think that a limited pilot to experiment and gather data is super useful. We all have our own options and emotional reactions (I’ve certainly had mine) but only hard data, backed up by some qualitative analysis, will help here.
I’m also not sure that this should be seen as an opportunity to reopen the Monzo vs Starling debate. I have an account with both. Some with one or another. That’s okay - just choose the one you prefer. And if Monzo Plus changes your perspective of Monzo enough to move banks then that’s super okay (and will be useful data for Monzo).
But what do I think about Monzo Plus (asked no one)?
I get the desire to have recurring revenue. It’ll really help with profitability and I support that.
But I think, for me, the travel offering isn’t there yet. Like many, I have a Flex Plus account solely for the travel and phone insurance. While I use Monzo as my main account, I’m price sensitive on these features, so Monzo would need to provide better value for me to move.
On the £3/month offer, I was originally super sceptical. I’m now not quite as much. It’s a minimum term of six months, which means £18 for some merch and a new card. That’s not too much and, if I think about it differently, if the offer was £20 up front for a different card design that I loved (something like this - I’m not personally sold on the new designs yet) and maybe something else that would be useful to me, then I’d be in. I’m also a tad sceptical about tying in card designs to a subscription model. I’d much rather an up front fee, with the card valid for (say) two years, with free replacements during that time.
So what would sell me? Give me a different card, a Monzo hoodie (rrp £40) and throw in some stickers (and maybe some physical golden tickets for the fun of it) and I’d possibly bite for £40, one off if the card lasts for 2 years.
But then I’m coral crew, so this might be a niche interest. But if there’s enough people that want one to make it worth Monzo’s while, why should others stand in people’s way?
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I think I read somewhere that Apple/Google charge a smaller percentage for subscription based in-app payments than for one off in-app payments to encourage apps to get users on subscription services.
Not sure if that’s true or related to Monzo though. I’ll see if I can find a source.
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Monzo merch, different card colours etc, in my opinion, should be a one off fee. I’m not sure I could ever get on board with this being a subscription, I find it a tad predatory that this could potentially roll on for much longer then the payee actually benefits from the goods on offer.
I think most people that want this option would pay the fee upfront and I imagine that’s a fairer, more reasonable deal for all.
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That is a thing, i think. Although I hadn’t even considered that Monzo might be in scope for it… Bit difficult to see where the line is when it’s a bank and it’s all ultimately about payments!
I think I’m going off this part of this YouTube video:
Not sure what counts as “long term subscription” though or if this is relevant to Monzo Plus.
I’d tend to agree, I think. I understand it in cases where you derive value over the longer term (e.g.insurance), but where it’s just a product, it feels a bit false. I suppose it’s because I find the idea of cancelling a special card so you can’t use it (and reissuing a standard one) wasteful. The card is ultimately a one off cost (and so is merch) so would feel more straightforward for that to be a one off charge.
If you can’t tell, I’d rather a card wasn’t part of any Plus ongoing subscription deal, but that’s just me!
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Wasteful is certainly a key word in the discussion.
I guess if I was to summarise my thoughts on the £3 package (I get the idea behind the bigger package, I just think the deal is trash.), I would call it thoroughly unlike Monzo in its design and implementation.
Also how does this work if you’re also an investor, do you get a Monzo plus card and an investor card as well or something else
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There’s been a few variants on this in this thread. Could you unpack a bit what isn’t like Monzo and why? And conversely what would be like Monzo?
(I’m not picking on you in particular here, @anon99402360, I’m just interested in the counterfactual)