Monzo's Relaxed Tone on Social Media etc

I’m thrilled that people think I’m young!! I signed up BECAUSE of the fact that their social media team is friendly, fun and less stuffy!! (Woo get me…i do banking on my phone AND have social media!!) Don’t change monzo…i :heart:u!! (Yeah and I can use emojis!!)

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I’m a big fan of how Monzo communicates. it’s so much less robotic than other financial institutions I’ve dealt with and much more empathetic. Even something as simple as the emoji use in the in-app chat makes the interaction feel that much more human.

This extends to the community events, forum posts from staff and Slack too. I imagine it’s definitely a bit of a change for people used to other legacy banks, but IMO it shouldn’t result in less trust in the company’s ability to manage customer’s money.

As an aside, I’ve been looking at ISPs and it’s great to be able to casually chat to someone who understands the tech - I’d take that every day over a clueless robot at a big telecoms company who calls me “Mr Williams” or “Sir”.

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Okay, so we established that Monzo isn’t ‘too’ millennial and it’s just friendly and approachable.

The problem described in OP was the reaction of Monzo non-believer, that it didn’t come through as serious/professional. We, believers of all ages, are already fine with that. We even crave it and I’m pretty sure amount of queries per Monzo user is higher than average for ‘boring’ banks, and someone will publish a paper about it.

But what Monzo can do, to be able to have lighter social media presence, but still be perceived as professional/serious? There are hints about Monzo’s approach scattered all over, but you don’t get a chance to put them together at first. It might sound trivial, but maybe it’s all about putting answers to question like “Are you a serious bank?” in FAQ, or “Why Monzo is a bit different” tab on the homepage… This could allow Monzo to make a statement first, and relive non-yet-believers from doing - in their perception - the leap of faith into something that doesn’t sound too serious.

I don’t feel like this was much required before, but with ever growing number of users, I think it could be a bit improved now. I had a brief look at the homepage, reading it like a non-believer would. It explains the app, building a new bank, friendly support. It has no mention of the marketplace, ‘financial center’, ‘we help you manage your money’ or ‘we are actually cool people, not machines’ followed by ‘we might sneak in Star Wars reference when replying to you, but it doesn’t mean we don’t treat your money seriously’.

Website update is probably coming up regardless, with the death of the prepaid product. I do feel like Monzo should/could do a bit more to explain their approach/mentality. I can agree that some of the non-believers claims are unsubstantiated, but I seriously can’t blame them for being a bit cautious when it comes to money, and the main source of Monzo information - website - is a bit behind.

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For £1 per call I’ll offer myself as organiser of the “serious” customer service alternative for monzo. Sure mostly everyone will just have to wait on hold for large periods of time, I’ll apologise call them “sir” or “madam” tell them I’ll put them through to other department, put them on hold again and after all this dance I’ll just apologise for not being able to help them and tell them to write an email to hello@monzo.com with a full explanation of their issue! :joy: :joy: :rofl: :rofl:

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Related:

https://community.monzo.com/t/release-notes/14273?u=chrisbeach

A bank with personality is great - but that doesn’t mean it has to be a “Friday night at the student union” personality.

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I think the point of Monzo is to avoid the corporate, impersonal tone of traditional banks.
There’s definitely a point where companies get too caught up with themselves trying to maintain their wacky image (I’m looking at you, innocent smoothies).

You need to use social media to talk to people the same way you’d talk to them in real life. As someone that has spent a lot of time convincing companies to talk to their customers like actual people, it’s nice to see Monzo doing it well and keeping a balance.

Some people will find the stuffiness of other banks reassuring, but that’s not the kind of company I’d want to have a real conversation with. when it comes to managing my money.

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I only bank where I can consume my avocado toast without judgement. #millennial #banking #avocado #snakepeople

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I’m a 70 year old Monza user because I love transparency and instant (as far as possible) results … So ‘If’ or most likely ‘when’ something goes wrong (such as fraud) it gets a sympathetic response and instant action… Yet to be tested but I have faith in the millennials running the business… The pin striped good old boys running the legacy banks are nothing but a bunch of lying unhelpful cheats…
PS… I had to look up millennials meaning :slightly_frowning_face:

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Re my previous post… I’m obviously a Monzo and not a Monza… not sure if it was my spell checker or a senior moment :confused:

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This is fantastic. Some seem to think new ideas, new technology only appeals to millennials. This is proof that new ideas and new tech are of interest to people of all ages.

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I think it is a new era thing not a millennial thing but business in general I would say is becoming less stuffy.

If you look at the fact that lots of companies now don’t insist on men wearing full suit and ties and that chinos, shirt and a jumper is considered smart enough.

I think it’s the nature of a new company to more relaxed after all studies have proven that a more relaxed approach can improve productivity and creativity (it’s why a lot of design workshops would allow casual clothing or whatever a person is comfortable in as it encourages that creative element) and after all is Monzo not after a more creative and productive Bank that we have been used to?!

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