Putting together other people’s thoughts from this and other threads:
Inability to pay in cash
No overdrafts
No statements
No joint accounts
Reliability issues
Not representing DDs when they fail to pay
Messes up the cash tracking when DD and SO are paid
No CASS
I would add:
Monzo is still in beta with features still coming and going. And many of the existing features are still half-baked. I mean what’s the point of being able to track expenses when you’re not able to accurately track a split expense?
I’m really happy to try Monzo and provide feedback but I can’t still trust Monzo enough to move everything over. Even Monzo’s pricing scheme hasn’t been finalised yet.
I’m sure that in a couple years Monzo will be able to provide most of the functionality of a legacy bank (either directly or through the API/marketplace) and many of us will move the majority of our banking there but now is not the time. Not for me at least.
That was a phrase that never meant very much to begin with (at least I’ve never seen a definition) but the Current Account has now been launched so whatever it once meant is almost certainly not true any more.
Speaking only for myself, there’s no need for me to use Monzo as my main account. My main account is with Santander and it does the job fine.
I joined Monzo for the prepaid card because it looked like it would track spending really well. It does that and the current account does it as well.
In effect, my Monzo account is the ‘spending pot’ for my Santander account.
Which Monzo’s perfectly fine with btw 
I guess we define beta differently then.
What I see is a bank where:
This is very promising (having seen the overall roadmap) but cannot compete with a legacy bank right now. It’s still work in progress, or a beta if you consider the core banking experience as the primary feature of Monzo.
Apart from your last point I’d argue that all those are the same as my First Direct Account.
My point is more that ‘Beta’ doesn’t mean anything in banking but everyone likes waving it around as if it holds some great significance.
In software terms then a Beta Test means the second iteration of testing with a wider user base so an app may be ‘in a beta testing phase’, for example, but we’re talking about a bank with a licence to do banking. There’s nothing ‘in test’ about it.
If you don’t like the features, that’s fair enough. It’s a good reason not to use it. But I can’t see an argument about ongoing development.
I’d argue that all business are in the game of developing their products over time so every business is a Beta business.
The back end of this post isn’t aimed at anyone in particular, but this whole ‘Beta business’ thing is a bit of linguistic nonsense I detest with a passion. You can tell, can’t you?
Unless you’re some kind of trader, I can’t imagine ever wanting to pay in cash over a bank counter. I actually don’t think I ever have. Honestly, I really don’t think I ever have.
I don’t require nor need an overdraft. All my outgoings tend to be paid within a day or two of my monthly outgoings. There’s never any random unplanned transactions.
You can request paper statements via the chat function. I would do so, if need be. There should be a dedicated button within the app though.
I’m single and live alone. I’ve no desire for a joint account.
Monzo has been more reliable than my old bank, Virgin Money. Their online banking regularly has downtime at the weekends.
Direct Debits are a bit of an issue. I get paid on the last day of each month, so mine are all set for the first of the next month. I had a delay with my payroll this past payday on November 30th. It was resolved in a matter of hours, but if it had taken over a day, I’d like to think that my Direct Debits would re-try repeatedly within the 24 hours of their due date.
I spent maybe six hours on Friday, swapping over my Direct Debits & Standing Orders. I had a day off work and it was cold outside, so I was happy to stay on my couch with my laptop and phone.
Your original statement involved some users, not yourself. It is self evident to you about your use. I merely extracted some of the reasons that others give as a problem as they see it in order to answer your statement.
According to Wikipedia (emph. mine),
Beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain a number of known or unknown bugs.
Hence, defining Monzo as something post-beta or not has to do with what is the MVP of a banking app for each of us.
I know. I was offering my personal perspective though.
It not only works for me, I’m completely happy having Monzo as my main bank. I’ve never been happier with any other bank.
No. I agree with the definition and, as I said above, software is the key word in it.
Thus the Monzo app is the only thing that could ever be defined as Beta. Monzo itself is a bank and the services are defined by the offerings of the bank itself not the app.
(I know we’re into dictionary semantics now so I apologise if it bores everyone else!)
But Monzo is only accessible through its app 
It’s not like there is an IBAN tied to my bank account and I’m complaining that I can’t access the number through the mobile App but only, e.g. through web banking.
But you’re now talking about missing features which is vastly different from something being under test.
I have to confess I am a little bit disappointed by the fact that some of the features that allowed Monzo to attract so many people are now being marketed as prohibitive costs. I would have expected Monzo to anticipate these limitations in early stages, or even before releasing the beta, and educated their costumers. To me, it just seems like they were hiding the costs in order to attract costumers. Now that they are a full bank they start rolling out these small changes. I remember in the early days after I joined to read in the forum about other users asking how would Monzo plan to maintain its sustainability - to me, they were never to clear.
Regarding this topic, I don’t mind doing bank transfers but one thing that annoys me is the fact that I need to swap between my home-banking and Monzo to do that. I would much better prefer to do everything in Monzo app if it was possible. Top-ups via Apple-Pay is just simple as resting my finger on the home button - I want that for bank transfers.
Point taken, Alex, but seems odd to me to launch a feature with a fanfare, while simultaneously saying ‘please don’t use it much’.
Surely the strategic focus should be on delivering revenue-generative features if VC cash will only last so long? I’d (wildly) guess that the development overhead is smaller for top ups on the current account than for a revenue-generative feature like overdrafts. But why prioritise a quicker win when it’s extremely costly, against a trickier feature that generates revenue?
To be honest I don’t know exactly why. Judging by the comments on this site, this functionality was a big deal for a lot of users & was stopping people switching to the current account, which is Monzo’s top priority - hence the fanfare.
This was probably the best time to add the fee, after users had got used to not using the feature. Personally I don’t think that using up a revenue stream in order to cover a cost like this one makes much sense. If Monzo had paid for it from their revenue, then added the fee later, a lot more people would be asking why.
And the rollout of overdrafts is accelerating, I have one now & not because anyone’s made an exception for me 
I try to avoid making those sorts of assumptions as the basis for a concern btw. I’m not saying you’re wrong but I’m not saying you’re right either!
I see top-ups as a convenient way to be able to add money to the account, but in the long time if it’s unsustainable I would rather be able to disable it in the app and turn it on when required. I think this would also help me to use faster payments/standing orders more to help me plan my finance better without having to use my legacy bank’s app/website.
5 posts were merged into an existing topic: Announcing the Overdrafts Preview!