Presumably for the same reason you can’t add multiple votes in the presidential elections 
I’m not sure Monzo want to compete in the budgeting services market, so if you’re a heavy budgeter YNAB is definitely the way to go. Your other point about a web interface might be come at some point since business accounts have it but nothing planned as of yet.
Yeah, I know… it was a poor attempt at a joke.
And yes- YNAB is probably the way to go, but it’s useless to me unless Monzo utilizes it here in the US. But I realize they’re still in Beta over here, so I won’t be surprised when that functionality comes online. For now though, I can’t use the account until they do. Bummer.
So to recap, I’m awaiting PLAID support so I can use the budgeting tools, and then a web interface so I can perhaps try THEIR budgeting tools. 
Just curious - do they have a web interface over in the UK?
No we don’t. Only business accounts do 
Sorry for slow reply to this thread and thanks for all the contributions. We know that giving you the ability to connect Monzo to other accounts is important, so this is definitely something we’re working on. The first step will be to allow you to link other accounts within the Monzo account to facilitate easy transfers to and from external accounts.
I’d be interested to hear more from this group about the other form of Plaid account linking and what you need that for. I see a few people mentioned YNAB or other budgeting tools – do you folks need to pull the Monzo data via Plaid for any other types of tool?
Thanks!
There’s also a couple of card-linked rewards programs that function with Plaid, passing transaction data to the rewards program in exchange for bonus points (Drop is one I use with some regularity).
There also used to be Bitmo (an app which gives you bonuses for buying gift cards to various merchants), which used to (before last year) require you to pay by direct debit, linking your bank account via Plaid. They’ve since started accepting cards via Apple Pay and Google Pay so that’s not an issue anymore.
That’s really useful - thanks !
Plaid is also used for some investment service instead of ACH. I like to transfer anything I’ve saved within my monthly budget to an investment account and right now have to send it to another bank account by ACH, and then use Plaid from there.
I’m also looking for plaid support for budgeting reasons. I love everything else about Monzo, but I prefer to spend money and then later assign it to a pot which isn’t how it seems Monzo is setup. Thus I would need a budgeting app to be able to link to my Monzo via plaid where I could then “move” my money around.
So many other apps uses Plaid in North America: savings, investments, loans, transfers, etc. I personally use YNAB and Venmo a lot, Microsoft Excel can pull in banking data through Plaid now, and even Simple Bank used Plaid to make linking accounts and transferring money between accounts painless. It eliminates having to export and import bank statements and doing wire transfers. It’s recommended on their website for Monzo USA to contact Plaid Exchange to set up integration.
@thomasageorge I’d like to +1 this as well on the PLAID. I can’t tell you how many times I come across a service here in the US that mentions needing PLAID support. It’s becoming obvious this really isn’t a thing in the UK, but here, it’s basically a necessity.
Venmo and PayPal, for example connect via PLAID. And because Venmo does, it is VITAL that whoever I bank with have this support. I really cannot have a bank that doesn’t. And I’m 100% ready to move my funds over to Monzo the SECOND it does. 
I’m a UK user. I guess the way banks and third party services integrate is different in the US compared to the UK.
In the UK, banks are required to provide APIs that enable authorised third parties to access customer transaction data and initiate payments. Examples of third parties include over the top budgeting apps and merchants connecting to customer bank accounts to pull payments. They could either connect directly to bank APIs or use an intermediary such as Plaid, Yodlee etc. to handle the connections for them.
Because banks are obliged to provide APIs, we’d put requests to third parties (such as Plaid or consumer-facing third party) to support the bank. So for us, it’s a bit odd to see requests happening the other way round.
Just to provide a bit of context for the users in the US, the problem with Plaid is that it’s not a 1:1 replacement for OpenBanking / PSD2 which is how banks operate in Europe/UK. While Plaid may have direct API integrations with larger institutions over here, they primarily operate as a web scraper (UK folks: similar to the old Yodlee). So when you’re authenticating w/Plaid, what you’re doing is giving them your credentials so they can login as you later, and scrape the results/features into whatever financial service you need to use (eg: Robinhood).
The problem? This scraping occurs via the web, not via APIs. Monzo does not have a web app - which means (unless I’m missing something), that I don’t see how Monzo could ever support Plaid - unless of course they work with them for a deeper API integration.
Could be wrong, but appears to be a fairly big blocker.
Well I must say… this beg the question - Why isn’t there a Monzo web app. This is a BANK after all, I must say I feel every bank should at LEAST have a web app. Actually - every bank (at least here in the States) does! It’s really inconvenient, and I dare say a wee bit unprofessional for a bank to force their users to be restricted to their mobile devices. I for one conduct ALL my financial business on my computer, never, ever on my phone.
Don’t get me wrong I LOOOOOVE having a comprehensive Mobile App, but man this should NOT be the only way to access your money. What if you lose your phone!?
I’m pretty sure Plaid supports Monzo UK via open banking.
So for me, the two pertinent questions are
Is there API access to Monzo US accounts (a Monzo responsibility)?
Is there is, why isn’t Plaid supporting it (presumably a Plaid responsibility)?
I want a web app too (and my guess is we will eventually get one). But Monzo UK has managed to accumulate about 5 million users in about 4 years, so clearly lots don’t see it as essential.
You get a new one
What happens if your computer breaks?
They’re a mobile bank. It’s their thing
There’s never been an occasion when I wanted or needed to use a web version
Ill agree to disagree with you then. The lack of a web app is the #1 reason I haven’t moved all my money over to Monzo. Well, that and no Plaid support.
For the record - I feel like a computer breaking and a phone loss are comparing apples to oranges. Not to mention I’m pretty sure the computer will “break” far less often than a phone being lost or stolen.
Depending on where you live, I guess.
I gotta tell ya, you’re 100% right. How a “bank” can do that without a web app is beyond me. But you’re right, it seems to be working. To me it’s not something that requires explaining in terms of WHY it’s needed, it’d be like explaining why you want a 55" television as opposed to a 14" television. But… numbers don’t lie, I guess I’m wrong here.
Regardless, like I’ve said to others on this thread, it’s one of the reason I am not using Monzo as my daily driver right now. EVEN MY GIRLFRIEND, who is not known for her strict expectations, upon asking me what “Monzo” was… said and I quote “so you’re going to move all of your money to this bank and they don’t have a website?”
I had to correct her that it wasn’t a website they were missing, it’s a “web application” to which she said “same thing…” and while I knew she was wrong… I kind of was thinking… well I suppose she’s got a point there…
In UK Monzo started life as a prepaid card rather then a fully fledged bank. Some users still view it that way (or as a secondary bank) which may go some way to explaining acceptance of mobile-only aspect.
I think Monzo will eventually launch online banking for retail customers though. In UK it’s been launched for Monzo business customers and the main mobile-first competitor (Starling) had launched it for retail customers.
Any update on this? Is there an ETA on when Monzo will be a part of plaid?