I think branding and marketing have a role to play too.
Yes, good point.
Going back to points made earlier about a possible perception bias within Monzo (where, for example, almost all staff are under 40 and have hardly seen a cheque in their lives - and I feel like I can say that being in that age range myself, as I’m not intending to be disparaging - just stating a fact) it’s likely that the company doesn’t view these sorts of features as that important but potential customers - especially older ones - may well view them as dealbreakers. That’s why, in the longer term, they really will have to sort them out in order to be taken seriously as a “proper bank”.
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Who actually uses a cheque these days though? I mean, why? Just to delay the payment for some arbitrary, small, number of days? I honestly don’t think that this one feature puts off all the >40s; I think that once people are older they stick with what they’re used to. And you can get a cheque into Monzo, so it’s not even a missing feature, just a slow one. Which is kind of the point of a cheque anyways!
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Who actually uses a cheque these days though?
For what it’s worth I have heard that cheques are life in America. You pay people with cheques, and get paid with cheques 
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Probably easier than trying to solve their banking system though 
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I do online shopping for an elderly relative, and they have no other way of paying me back in a timely manner. He has many friends and acquaintances who also use cheques.
But to the point about whether Monzo should offer cheque imaging, these people wouldn’t be able to apply for a Monzo account in any case, but those who they give cheques to could.
Personally, I couldn’t give two hoots whether or not Monzo offer it. I can get it elsewhere and Monzo can do without the hassle and the business. I guess monzo and I are both reasonably happy with the status quo.
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I think this is key.
If you were only allowed one bank account then it’s an entirely different situation.
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Now that’s an interesting proposition.
Santander makes me some money every month, I “like” Nationwide (and I might want to use their packaged account again soon), I need to deposit cheques regularly, so Starling is useful. And with Monzo, that’s the four banks I use, and of the four, Monzo is bottom of the list in terms of usefulness.
PS Sounds like a subject for one of @Peter_G polls.
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Just as well Monzo has basically abandoned its American ambitions then.
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Yeah, so I can’t see Monzo investing a lot in an evaporating use-case.
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Nor me. Especially given what has been said by staff members here.
Just as well Monzo has basically abandoned its American ambitions then.
What makes you think that? From my perspective the US is very much alive, although from an outside perspective of someone not in the US it may be different?
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don’t make the mistake that everyone has the same life as you - most of my customers are elderly, and cheques are their primary payment method. I’m not saying that Monzo should allow for this btw, just pointing out that we’re all different.
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Because Monzo very publicly got told by US regulators that it wasn’t going to get a banking licence, and so it dropped plans to do so. That’s a giant setback that I don’t think we can just sweep under the rug. Furthermore, there are a lot of competitors in a market as large as the US, so if Monzo drops behind on getting a licence it’s going to be hard to catch up later. And Monzo can’t play fast and loose like Revolut did in the UK five years ago, because Monzo is not a tiny nimble unscrutinised startup anymore.
To be honest I am personally surprised, given the above, that your perspective seems so… universally positive?
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I don’t doubt that this demographic use cheques a lot; I’ve seen it, too. But it doesn’t seem like a great long-term strategy to invest there. Which is I imagine why they’re not.
They are though? They’re just not pursuing the banking license (yet)
Personally I’d like to see them doing it a bit faster - I don’t know how much progress has been made, but I imagine it’s quite capital intensive to try and onboard a million users - so maybe they’re perfecting the product first before a bigger push.
Interchange is massive though 
Pretty sure @duncang is replying to a comment about cheques, not the US.
Don’t think so?
And that was a different reply again! They’re having two separate conversations which you’ve merged together.
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He might be talking about cheques, but he’s also talking about how Monzo are abandoning their plans for the US, which I’m just pointing out isn’t my understanding.
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