Please keep the prepaid cards

I use my current accounts like this at the moment:

  1. My salary goes into one account, all bills by direct debit go out of this account.
  2. Thereā€™s a standing order the day after pay day into me and my wifeā€™s joint spending account.
  3. We top up Monzo from the spending account each month and do most of the spending on that.

Having a Monzo current account will replace our spending account, not the salary and bills account. Separating spending from fixed bills makes it a LOT easier to budget, and not overspend each month.

It also means I can leave that debit card at home and never use it online or in shops. Which means if someone steals my spending card for any reason, my mortgage and bills carry on getting paid just the same. Iā€™d recommend the same approach to anyone, itā€™s easy to set up and will save you a lot of hassle.

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No date set yet.

It will be a migration over time, you do not have to immediately accept the offer but we will progressively push it more and more until that currently undetermined cutoff date. You will receive plenty of notice.

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Absolutely agree, but not only for budgeting. I love the Monzo card for travelling, load up with your set budget then you get the best MasterCard exchange rate that beats most of the cash exchange rates, which I am never organised to pre arrange anyway!!

I feel like the usage style of the :monzo: prepaid card can definitely be solved with the ā€œMoney Potsā€ (separate accounts) mentioned in a sneak peek not too long ago :raised_hands:

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Thatā€™s a very ā€˜legacy bankā€™ way of sorting your finances, when you take a look at how :monzo: Monzo plan to help you budget and spend within the same account.

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I have a lot of plans for this with API integrations, and two of them are:

  • :moneybag: ā€œspend the pennyā€ saving pots
  • :european_castle: Direct Debit ring-fencing

The latter is something I want to do automatically; a direct-debit mandate is visible (and I hope will be via the API), so you can automatically ring-fence all of your direct debits on payday :tada:. I feel like (or rather, hope) Monzo will implement a few of these ideas themselves :eyes:

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Just wanted to add my +1 for keeping the prepaid card. Absolutely love it and gutted you arenā€™t planning to keep them.

I think direct debit ring fencing would work for me too. Thatā€™s exactly what Iā€™m trying to achieve by having a separate spending account. Looking forward to seeing how it comes along :slight_smile:

Perhaps it is, but said features do not exist yet (and I donā€™t even have the Monzo current account yet). I will reevaluate periodically obviously.

Also, I trust Monzo, but Iā€™m also not going to throw all my eggs in one basket immediately. Not being able to pay my mortgage is a big deal and one I like being protected against (I also have an overdraft in my salary account which I donā€™t use much, as a safety net).

It feels fine to use two accounts for awhile, given the comments in the forum about quite a few companies not accepting the Monzo sort code yet also. Itā€™s a new bank - there will be teething problems.

I think banks like Monzo are probably in the future, but I donā€™t think you get to call old banks ā€œlegacy banksā€ until you have beaten them in the market for customers. Monzo only have a tiny market share right now. Though I expect it will get better, most people I know still bank with the same bank they did as a child!

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I really like the idea of ring fencing ddā€™s on payday to ensure the important bill get paid 1st. My current bank has an annoying habit of paying the lesser bills 1st and my mortgage last and if I am 2p out for the mortgage money it doesnā€™t get paid. So theyā€™ll pay the tv license of Ā£13 over the mortgage of Ā£800 even if I have Ā£799.98 very frustrating as you can imagine

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I think that the most important feature of the prepaid card that helps with budgeting is that it is impossible to go overdrawn, You canā€™t just spluge on an expensive item, without having to consciously top up your card. Iā€™ll be pleased to have some of the other functions of the current account, (multiple card holders will be a real boon) as long as the no-overdraft option is retained.

Sorry if thatā€™s been covered before elsewhere, I didnā€™t see it in this thread.

Itā€™ll be impossible to go overdrawn on the debit cards too, unless youā€™ve requested an overdraft or itā€™s due to an offline transaction / delayed payment, which also applies to the prepaid cards.

Monzo will even bounce Direct Debits & stop Standing Orders, if you balance is 0 without charging you. Obviously youā€™ll have the tools that you need in order to make sure that you set aside enough money for those payments in advance though.

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Belting - sign me up!!

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Tom has said ā€œit will probably be closed by Christmasā€

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Iā€™ll most likely be using the Current a/c card the same way as I use the prepaid ie topping up from my existing current account and using it for everyday expenses whilst all my direct debits still come out of my existing bank current account.I realise Monzo would probably like me to transfer all my business over but I like to be able to go into my current bank high street branch and talk to someone face to face if any issues arise.

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You have a branch? HSBC are busily closing all the branches near me

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Exactly what I do too!

Hi Dave
Itā€™s Metro Bank, open 7 days a week 9 till 8 and busy expanding itā€™s
branches.I wouldnā€™t want to move my account from them under any
circumstance.
Regards
Ross

They havenā€™t made it out here to the boonies thoughā€¦ just along the M4 from their most far flung outpost!

I used to be with First Direct but the HSBC Branch here was about the size of a phone box, so I transfered.The Metro App is nice to use and they have given excellent service at the branch.Monzo prepaid though has made all the difference to my budgeting.Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll enjoy using the Monzo current account when I get one but as I said before itā€™ll be for day to day expenses only.