We’ve had a number of polls about Monzo Plus since it launched in July: the Initial Flash Poll to test immediate perceptions, then the Big Poll, which ran for about the first month of Plus, followed by the Two-Months-On poll, which was designed to see changes over time. We’re coming up to the initial three month term for Plus, so this is (probably) the last poll for the time-being.
So we can see how things have evolved over time, the first questions are more or less the same. But I’ve added in an extra question on what folk are actually using, an extra question on a theoretical Monzo Premium upgrade, and have added options to the ‘what do you want next?’ question, taking out some of less popular choices there.
Have you subscribed to Monzo Plus?
(If you did then cancelled, say yes)
Yes
No
0voters
If you didn’t, why not?
Too expensive
No, or not enough, features of interest
Disagree with paywalling features
I haven’t yet but I plan to
No joint account support
I don’t have a Monzo account / Monzo’s not my main account
Something else (tell us below)
0voters
If you did, will you stick with it?
Yes - it’s fine as it is
Yes - if I get new features
No - I plan to cancel
No - I’ve already cancelled
No - but I’d consider upgrading to Monzo Premium (Plus + mobile insurance, travel insurance, metal card)*
Unsure
0voters
Top 3 Monzo Plus features?
Other accounts, in Monzo
Interest on balance and regular pots
Custom categories
Holographic card
Virtual Cards
Advanced Roundups
Credit Tracker
Offers
Auto-export transactions
One free cash deposit per month
Fee-free withdrawals abroad
0voters
Which Plus features have you used?
Other accounts, in Monzo
Interest on balance and regular pots
Custom categories
Holographic card
Virtual Cards
Advanced Roundups
Credit Tracker
Offers
Auto-export transactions
One free cash deposit per month
Fee-free withdrawals abroad
0voters
What do you want next?
Nothing, it’s fine as it is
Rename virtual cards
An offset pot (money in a pot/s is used to offset overdraft fees)
Get paid early automatic for Plus customers (it just lands in your account 4pm the day before)
Freeze virtual cards
Transfer money to a credit card pot when money’s been spent on that card
An additional mega-feed, showing Monzo and all linked account transactions together
I’d consider upgrading, but currently, I’ll be looking to cancel at the end of the minimum term if I don’t see any glimmer of the new package arriving.
It’s been fun, but after 1 month paying for it, it’s not worth it for me, the 2 free months was a good incentive to get me hooked in for £5.
My something else for new features would simply amount to a more coherent and cohesive summary, with smarter budgeting tools, maybe more AI an automation and less friction a la Simple Bank. better integration with pots, and a more intuitive interface for pots would be nice too.
There are probably other smaller niggles I’d like to see Monzo Address with other features, or by adding new ones, but for me, summary and bills pots are my primary contention point with the base Monzo experience, and I continue long for a system more similar to what Simple Bank offer.
Just something minor added to what’s already there would be enough to keep me paying though. Smarter roundups that actually work, and better integration of virtual cards with pots, controls, and Apple Pay would be enough to engrain these features in my life that I would not want to live without them.
I’ve pretty much stopped using Categories and Google Sheets; largely because the experience of using them is clunky. After all the love I gave Sheets in the first month, I still haven’t set up my dashboard, because it’s more effort than I’m prepared to do. And so I’ve also given up Categories because I’m not using anything to analyse them.
The two powerful things with Sheets export are: Live Dashboard, and IFTTT. To make both of them optimal, I think Monzo should:
Release some Dashboard templates that can be easily used for data import.
Publish an “Sheets to Pot” applet on IFTTT, that will mean free users of IFTTT can customise better. (For context; IFTTT have changed their free model, and much more limited now - so without this happening it pretty much kills the IFTTT benefit of Sheets Export).
That leaves me with Virtual cards, and right now it’s a “that’s nice” feature. I’ve had one experience of “physical card stopped worked and I didn’t have to replace all my online things”, which was good. But not sure it’s worth £5 alone.
The biggest biggest win for me would be to overhaul Budgeting Tools. Right now it’s a confusing system that doesn’t integrate into the ecosystem well enough (IMO). If they nailed this I would definitely spend more on Plus.
Same. The features of Plus, once the novelty wore off, aren’t getting a lot of use. The fancy card has barely left my wallet; the custom categories I find irksome that they’re being charged for; and the interest isn’t enough to make up for the basic features that Monzo still lacks.
Lately I’ve been using Starling for my day to day spending. I had to change my subscriptions over to a new card anyway, so I’ve changed them to a whole new bank. I now get interest on my balance, post office cash handling, more categories, and the ability to pay in cheques through the app…oh, and a really nice browser app.
I’ll give it a month and decide then if I’m going to make it a permanent arrangement, but for now I can’t think of a good reason to keep Plus beyond the minimum term.
I’m getting the distinct feeling from comments on here (both historical and current) that, regardless of what is on offer, the paid-for account is actually a dodo.
“Will become extinct” - the myriad of different apps & services available today, most providing great competition, are (IMHO) eroding the mindset of having everything in one place.
Will be keeping Monzo plus for the time being. Most useful feature for me is custom categories, as I can see much more specifically where my money is going.
Connected accounts is nice for a bit of ease rn.
However, as time goes on, am increasingly feeling let down by the half-baked-ness of these features.
Re custom categories, the point is to allow for greater visualisation. But there’s no easy way to compare categories month to month rn, and visualise changes or trends. I feel like we saw a mock up of a much improved feed/summary etc a year or two ago now from Bruno? Whatever happened to that?
And I believe that more stuff is coming in terms of connected accounts data enrichment, making their inclusion actually useful, but it really needs to hurry up.
To add to this, I’d like a hierarchy for categories.
If I’m on holiday, does everything go in Holiday? Does it go into Eating Out/Gifts/Day Out? But then those latter categories will be inflated due to holiday spend.
Holiday > Eating Out - I ate at a posh restaurant whilst I was away
Eating Out - Cheeky Nandos.
time will tell what happens
Joint account support for Plus/Premium