Monzo Plus - what would you like to see?

I didn’t say otherwise - I was replying to someone who said N26 included actual lounge access :grinning:

Yes that was me.

I didn’t say they provide ‘actual’ lounge access but they do provide the normal ‘lounge’ access that banks/providers do (with the apparent exception of RBS), so this will almost certainly be all Monzo can provide too.

So it was, my bad.

As a side issue, whilst there’s a natural pause in the conversation - I’ve often wondered - “my bad…what?” :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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My point about this is that car insurance already does this. A 21 year old will pay more than a 46 year old for the same product.

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But they are going to the insurer individually, not being offered insurance within a “package”. Everyone is aware that insurance works by spreading the risk and premiums being more for those statistically more likely to make a claim.

But when you are offering insurance as part of a “package” then I don’t think you can change the price point due to age.

But one of the key parts of the package is travel insurance which works by spreading the risk and premiums being more for those statistically more likely to make a claim.

Monzo is still selling the package to individuals so whether or not there are other parts to it

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No I get that, as I said that is how insurance works - but if you are offering a package I don’t think you can then differentiate the same part of that bundled product due to age (unless they don’t fit into the product itself).

If an 18 year old buys Monzo Plus, they will likely want to pay the same as a 46 year old buying Monzo Plus. This wouldn’t be the case if they went for the insurance direct but in a way that is maybe a positive of packaged accounts.

As I haven’t gone full Monzo yet most of the value add services I already have from HSBC Premier including access to reduced Mortgage rates.

None of the current add-on’s would entice me to take Monzo Plus, what I would like is for Monzo to continue to build a great seamless digital retail banking proposition. Spent time focusing on good PFM tools (Personal finance management), sharpen up the UI and expand into other account services like Children’s accounts or Joint Account overdrafts. I think these types of offerings will capture more account switchers and new customers over coloured cards and insurance products.

Expand out into a market place of services, you know I pay my gas bill, you know how much it is each month why not aggregate better deals from other suppliers and offer me these, same for broadband, car insurance etc. Maybe look at adding in currency transfer like TransferWise.

This one they already do, for sending money. Sadly not for receiving yet.

Hi all,

I checked out the thread to see what others have to say, because i initially didn’t see the value of £3 or £6 plus account. It seems like this is the overarching sentiment among the rest of the users too.

From my experience, I never had a premium bank account and always switched accounts as soon as they would require me to pay.

The only perk that I would like to have is the lounge access on the airports, but even that i’m not sure if i would be paying for (and it would be probably more expensive than £3/6 per month). I’m a money saver, so i’m always looking to pay less rather than pay extra to have benefits that I may or may not use.

Other thought: if there was some sort of deal and discount to use Netflix, Spotify or Amazon Prime, i would be tempted if it meant I’m saving on the other services. Or a deal with a magazine subscription, i.e. The Economist or NYTimes.

Either way, good luck and looking forward to seeing what you roll out in the end!

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To receive from a foreigner, you just send them your Monzo.me link and tell them to use their debit card. No need for TransferWise.

Echoing the many previous comments, it just doesn’t seem like much is on offer for the £3/£6.

I like the colour of my card. :hot_coral_heart:
I’ve never used Monzo.me and can’t imagine any scenario I would need to, so the custom URL wouldn’t be worth it. My current URL is already my name (plus a number), so if I ever did need to use it it’s fine as it is.
I don’t live in London, so events and swag (if only available at events) are irrelevant to me.

Things like phone insurance, breakdown cover or offers relating to popular subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, Now TV, etc.) as suggested above would be good to have.

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On the insurance front, after the comments about is it fair to have an age range, I was curious to see what Pluto would quote for both age 18 and 46 - and all options kept equal I got the same price (not sure how that would fare on another site).

In any case, I tried to build the same quote on Pluto directly, that you can get with Monzo for the £4/month.

Interestingly, after a read through the Monzo policy (what am I doing on a monday night…?), you get 2 gadgets covered and a decent amount of baggage and cancellation cover, rather than the very basics.

In any case, building your own quote with Pluto for the same would cost £79.

Or, £6.58 / month.

So, if there’s stuff you value in the “Core” part of the offering, (and wouldn’t just sign up for the insurance), then at £4/m the insurance works out better value.

If you’d just join the Plus package to get the insurance, you’re paying £7 / £10 per month for it, depending on the final price of Plus. In which case you might be better building a policy with Pluto directly.

What is interesting though about the Monzo x Pluto policy, is that I don’t think you can add anything additional cover, so if you want Winter Sports, or Adventure Sports (which includes any rock climbing, and a few others) you won’t get that with Monzo right now, so it’s worth checking what type of sports it will cover if you’re likely to go on sporty hols.

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What’s the situation with the travel insurance (18-46) @tristan If that is true, sounds very ageist to me! 46? What a weird age, 46 isn’t old!

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A big window so you can look down on the poor people queuing for five pints of Fosters at 4 o’clock in the morning, while you sip your champagne and nibble your smoked salmon blinis served to you by highly trained badgers.

Probably.

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…along with all the other Revolut subscribers I guess.

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That sounds like a great pet, where do I get one?
And do I need to get it vaccinated for tb? :joy::rofl:

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Maybe if the price was £3 per year or £6 per year then I might have no problems with this. Heck, even £1 per month for this would still be somewhat acceptable but £6 per month is just ridiculous let alone the introductory early adopter £3 per month fee.

This just really seems like a desperate cash grab.

In my eyes there’s really nothing they could add to make it worth £3 per month unless they throw in gadget insurance in that price. For £6 per month they really need to be offering a metal card with custom engraving options on top of gadget insurance and the existing features.

And even £6 per month is too much for a metal card. There should be just a one off fee for a metal card or the Monzo Plus card such as £3-5 for a different colour plastic one with the Monzo Plus branding with a metal version costing an upfront cost of £10-15.
That would be real value and I would personally buy a Monzo Plus metal card if I could just pay a one off fee for the metal card part.

In general on the emergency cash functionality, I get that it costs money for Monzo to operate this but it’s really not competitive with banks like HSBC or Santander where if you lose access to your card you can just bring ID to a branch and they’ll withdraw cash from your account at no extra cost and give it to you.

If Monzo still wants to have a Plus tier which costs £6 per month then Airport Lounge Access should be added if possible.

Not trying to be rude as others have said but overall a very underwhelming and disappointing launch imho.

I hate going through people’s comments and picking out different parts, but I thought it was worth clarifying some things, otherwise misconceptions keep on circulating.

It was worded badly by Monzo at the start, but my understanding is that it’s not a £3 “early adopter” promo, rather the fact that Monzo feel that the £3 is worth it (the majority seem to disagree right now).

The £6 per month that Monzo talk about isn’t known yet - They’ve said it’ll be £6 per month when they have more to add to it - I don’t believe the current offering will ever be charged at £6 per month.

I’m with you on this, but from everyone I’ve spoken to, the “one off fee” for a card isn’t a route that anyone will go down - Sadly, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that “one off cards” will be behind a subscription of some kind.

I’d love to know the percentage of customers who actually use Airport Lounges… it seems like such a rare thing for people to take advantage of, that I’m not sure it would be seen as a huge value to a packaged account like this.

Of course, if it was truly a “pick n mix” type package, it would be great to be able to add “Airport Lounge access” for X amount per month.

For me, the biggest thing is still this initial £3 per month which for me is worth £0. Appreciate Monzo have opted for the “higher margin” products as part of the core package, but it just makes them uncompetitive when you eventually do factor in the things you’ll want/need.

Unless the “swag” included some decent worthwhile items (still seems to be TBC)…

I get that this is early days, and in a limited trial etc etc…

But, if Monzo want their customers to be guinea pigs and offer feedback through the forum, they should really be crystal clear on what’s on offer currently, and actually answer important questions from customers.

The obvious ones from what I’ve read (which are still unconfirmed by Monzo), are:

  1. Is the travel insurance age limit 46?
  2. What “swag” do you actually get for your Plus subscription?

Hopefully someone can answer soon :grinning:

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