# Monzo to shutter Las Vegas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Monzo Chat\ **Created:** [9 April 2020 20:07 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033 "2020-04-09T20:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TrentRockwell](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/trentrockwell/32/46593_2.png) [@TrentRockwell](https://community.monzo.com/u/TrentRockwell)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:07 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/1 "2020-04-09T20:07:33Z")
> **[Monzo to shutter Las Vegas customer support office, 165 employees being let go...](https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/09/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/)** > > Following voluntary employee furloughs and salary cuts in the U.K., Monzo is continuing to take tough decisions in order to shore up its financial position amidst the coronavirus crisis and resulting economic downturn. The latest move — which... ---
**Author:** ![Ordog](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/ordog/32/22446_2.png) [@Ordog](https://community.monzo.com/u/Ordog)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:11 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/3 "2020-04-09T20:11:59Z")
> [@Neil0](#): > > Have to hope there’s sufficient capacity left to support customers in extraordinary times I don’t think it is anything to be concerned about. They’ve already said that card use has drastically reduced and therefore the need for support has too. I’ve seen people report instant response times which is good too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gt94sss2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee7513/32.png) [@gt94sss2](https://community.monzo.com/u/gt94sss2)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:14 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/4 "2020-04-09T20:14:14Z")
> [@Neil0](#): > > I guess this builds on the furloughing of COps in the UK. The article says that the decision to close the Las Vegas office was already being considered before pandemic started so it seems to suggest bigger concerns in Monzo about cash burn and controlling costs. I wonder what this means for their US plans though - as Americans are likely to want CS staff in the same country - even if it doesn’t effect the current beta ---
**Author:** ![Ordog](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/ordog/32/22446_2.png) [@Ordog](https://community.monzo.com/u/Ordog)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:18 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/7 "2020-04-09T20:18:17Z")
OK. People using their account has drastically reduced 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Toblerone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/toblerone/32/22564_2.png) [@Toblerone](https://community.monzo.com/u/Toblerone)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:20 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/8 "2020-04-09T20:20:27Z")
> [@gt94sss2](#): > > I wonder what this means for their US plans though - as Americans are likely to want CS staff in the same country - even if it doesn’t effect the current beta The article states that none of the LA team currently work on US Monzo ---
**Author:** ![Ordog](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/ordog/32/22446_2.png) [@Ordog](https://community.monzo.com/u/Ordog)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:21 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/10 "2020-04-09T20:21:39Z")
A bit of inbound but mostly card usage. Here ya go 🙂 > [@Support chat disappeared from app](https://community.monzo.com/t/support-chat-disappeared-from-app/94519/33): > > It is a very significant number. As you have probably seen in the press we have now put a lot of staff on furlough, and that includes a large amount of COps. The work simply is not there due to a dramatically reduced number in inbound which is directly linked to a huge decline in card spending which also means loss of revenue. A huge drop in card spending practically translates in not just the revenue loss but also the amount of inbound support as a result of that. ---
**Author:** ![gt94sss2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee7513/32.png) [@gt94sss2](https://community.monzo.com/u/gt94sss2)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:22 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/11 "2020-04-09T20:22:43Z")
> [@Ordog](#): > > They’ve already said that card use has drastically reduced and therefore the need for support has too. This decision seems to have been taken on cost grounds given it was considered before the pandemic and lockdown which led to reduced usage ---
**Author:** ![gt94sss2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee7513/32.png) [@gt94sss2](https://community.monzo.com/u/gt94sss2)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:24 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/13 "2020-04-09T20:24:29Z")
Yes, but I would lay money on the fact the the original purpose of the team was to provide support to US customers and they were being trained/used to support UK customers in the meantime. Otherwise, there would have been no need to open an office in the US when they did ---
**Author:** ![Ordog](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/ordog/32/22446_2.png) [@Ordog](https://community.monzo.com/u/Ordog)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:24 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/14 "2020-04-09T20:24:50Z")
I wouldn’t read into it more that what is there. Dont worry 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SouthseaOne](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/southseaone/32/87138_2.png) [@SouthseaOne](https://community.monzo.com/u/SouthseaOne)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:26 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/15 "2020-04-09T20:26:29Z")
> [@Neil0](#): > > I don’t get this repeated reference to ‘card use’ It mainly is card use that drives need to contact them though. Payment did not go through. Payment went through twice. Payment cleared, but did not register at website. Lost card. That sort of thing etc etc All of those are way down in both my personal experience and, from word from Simon, across the customer base as well I’ve only ever had to contact Monzo about direct debits and the like because Southern Water have a flair for cocking things up their end ---
**Author:** ![TrentRockwell](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/trentrockwell/32/46593_2.png) [@TrentRockwell](https://community.monzo.com/u/TrentRockwell)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:26 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/16 "2020-04-09T20:26:35Z")
@gt94sss2 comment still stands though… At the point Monzo US goes general release in the those customers are going to want to contact CS on or much nearer their own timezone. Given the vastly different banking rules we can’t rely on UK CS being able to respond to those calls. ---
**Author:** ![jamar0303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@jamar0303](https://community.monzo.com/u/jamar0303)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:27 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/17 "2020-04-09T20:27:24Z")
I’m curious about something from the article, and building on another couple comments: > It should also be noted that this doesn’t appear to impact Monzo’s U.S. launch. Vegas support staff were servicing U.K. customers only, with U.S. customer support provided by a small team in London closer to the development and iteration of the Monzo USA beta. This seems a bit… counterintuitive, to have US support come from the UK. I wonder what goes into the decision that the support team should be more remote from the customers than from the app development team. ---
**Author:** ![Toblerone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/toblerone/32/22564_2.png) [@Toblerone](https://community.monzo.com/u/Toblerone)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:28 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/18 "2020-04-09T20:28:10Z")
Of course - I imagine that’s at least 2 years away though - maybe longer given the current situation. Plenty of time to re-open when it’s cost effective. ---
**Author:** ![SouthseaOne](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/southseaone/32/87138_2.png) [@SouthseaOne](https://community.monzo.com/u/SouthseaOne)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:29 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/19 "2020-04-09T20:29:06Z")
Las Vegas team were always there to avoid UK team having to work unsociable hours - their evening time covered most of our night UK team covering US for now as it is a small operation and a lot of things are new and moving fast ---
**Author:** ![jamar0303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@jamar0303](https://community.monzo.com/u/jamar0303)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:32 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/20 "2020-04-09T20:32:02Z")
In that case, then, I wonder who’s on the other end of the phone number on my US card. I’ve never actually been able to get through to someone during the day, but if they’re based in the UK and working off those hours it would make sense. I always thought that number was ringing through to an office in the US because it was “local” to the US. ---
**Author:** ![lpoolrob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/lpoolrob/32/36348_2.png) [@lpoolrob](https://community.monzo.com/u/lpoolrob)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:32 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/21 "2020-04-09T20:32:23Z")
> [@gt94sss2](#): > > The article says that the decision to close the Las Vegas office was already being considered before pandemic started so it seems to suggest bigger concerns in Monzo about cash burn and controlling costs This is the key thing here. By now they have such a large number of support staff that I’m sure they can provide 24/7 UK based support from people who WANT to work nights - and if they can, that is a marketing point too. Did Corona accelerate it? Probably. Is that a bad thing? Probably not (apart from for those who lost jobs). ---
**Author:** ![SouthseaOne](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/southseaone/32/87138_2.png) [@SouthseaOne](https://community.monzo.com/u/SouthseaOne)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:35 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/22 "2020-04-09T20:35:09Z")
“TechCrunch understands” I thought it was always a bit daft when BBC News or BBC Sport says “the BBC understands”, but that is another level ---
**Author:** ![gt94sss2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee7513/32.png) [@gt94sss2](https://community.monzo.com/u/gt94sss2)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:35 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/23 "2020-04-09T20:35:46Z")
Even given the current economic slowdown, I don’t think Monzo can afford to delay their US plans. I suspect their cash burn rate, competition or VC backers. > [@SouthseaOne](#): > > Las Vegas team were always there to avoid UK team having to work unsociable hours - their evening time covered most of our night Creating a team in one country to support another is very expensive, especially when done in a country like the US. There is a good reason most firms who do this use somewhere in Asia for this. Given the number of queries, it would have been easier just to expand coverage in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![SouthseaOne](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/southseaone/32/87138_2.png) [@SouthseaOne](https://community.monzo.com/u/SouthseaOne)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:39 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/24 "2020-04-09T20:39:01Z")
> [@gt94sss2](#): > > especially when done in a country like the US Cost drove their choice for Vegas. Apparently quite a reasonable standard of living there for the money I have had my absolute fill personally of horridly poor VOIP phone connections out to Asia with HSBC, the highlight being the call where the person answering did not know what a cheque was, so the US is alright by me The same cultural ties partly drove them to try expansion there first ---
**Author:** ![SouthseaOne](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/monzo/user_avatar/community.monzo.com/southseaone/32/87138_2.png) [@SouthseaOne](https://community.monzo.com/u/SouthseaOne)\ **Post date:** [9 April 2020 20:41 UTC](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033/25 "2020-04-09T20:41:11Z")
And a shout out to @simonb (and colleagues) who must be rather devastated by this news having played such a large part in the getting operations there off the ground. This is far from just a numbers game and likely one of the hard choices he mentioned recently [Next page](https://community.monzo.com/t/monzo-to-shutter-las-vegas/95033.md?page=2)