This morning, a writer at the Times published an article claiming that we’re lending money to customers to buy shares in a supposed “overdraft offer” as part of our recently announced crowdfunding round. The writer has chosen to paint a particular picture and taken comments from users on our forum out of context to support a negative piece about our approach to this raise.
I think we should invite this Times journalist to the community and explain a few things and ask some questions on how they came up with this I expect better research from Times.
Very well written response.
I read the front of the article (it is behind a paywall to read the full thing), and had to assume this wasn’t the full picture. I read all the investment material and the tiny bit of The Times article didn’t gel with what I had read in the materials or on the forums at all.
It’s a shame that when any person/company/endeavour flourishes we have media that will attempt to knock it down a level even if that involves misusing the truth
A Monzo spokesperson said: “We are committed to lending responsibly, so we only offer overdrafts to people who have a good credit history and can afford the repayments.
“We’ve made people aware of the risks that come with crowdfunding. We don’t think it’s our place to restrict how people spend. Before investing, customers also need to pass a regulated test to make sure they understand the investment — and anyone who doesn’t pass can’t invest.”
You’d hope that people would see past the fact that it’s enthusiastic users posting, and not a financial endorsement from Monzo… But where is the story in that?
It’s a loaded question - accuse Monzo of “letting” people get into debt to buy shares, or accuse Monzo of taking a paternalistic approach towards their users, restricting their choice. Mostly it’s The Times using a hatchet-job article to parasitise Monzo’s popularity though.
Wow. I didn’t expect the comments picked up to be quite so… mundane and normal. How they made those comments into a story worthy of a national newspaper takes some skill.