I think weāre very spoiled in this country by the concept of free banking that isnāt really. Me as much as anyone else. These services cost money to provide and there is no right for anyone to get them for free.
Itāll be a brave company that tries to go it alone and break that model and Iām not sure that itās manageable at the moment but Iāll never dismiss anyone for daring to charge for something that costs for them to support.
I think the word ābasicā is overused too. That sort of assessment is very much in the eye of the beholder.
Monzo is a bank but also a tech company. Weāve had this discussion before during the original Plus and - whether we like or not - Monzoās business model at the moment does include a fee for paying in cash. It may be that that becomes āfreeā as part of a premium package, but youāre still paying for it somewhere.
Ultimately we all have to weigh up our choices as consumers. If youāre currently a Monzo customer then presumably the fee for paying in cash doesnāt mean that you wonāt bank with them. Similarly, if that fee is absorbed into a monthly payment is that fundamentally different?
Personally, Iād rather that banking wasnāt āfreeā. Itās actually regressive at the moment, with hidden fees and charges all over the place, which actually hit the poorest hardest. And banks like Monzo and Starling - with much cheaper cost bases - canāt really compete on cost.
Savings accounts from Monzo ?!
I had a lot of third party savings accounts in Monzo app last yearā¦ now Shawbrook only. Maybe Monzo will launch their own savings accounts soon?
I actually disagree with this and I think youāre underestimating greed too. Iām more than happy to pay for software that enhances as my life and is a breeze to use.
They key to being successful here is in implementation and human interface design. Iāll pay for the same feature that works better than a free version might elsewhere, for example with N26 charging for additional spaces; I saw value in that. Even though other banks have the āsame featureā, they implemented it differently, and in my opinion is not as good.
Weāve also seen in other industries, that if a company starts charging for something that used to be free, and people pay for it, others will follow suit and start charging for it too. This is very prevalent in the gaming industry, and I donāt see why it wouldnāt be the same in fintech, or banking in general.
Youāre misunderstanding the point of my statement. Iām saying itās only a matter of time before another business compiled the feature and improves it. Itās the same with literally everything you buy. Iād someone offers you something you want where you can get better value for your money and more benefits you switch. Take Starling, I already have friends who switched based solely on the unlimited withdrawal.
You mention because the UI is good and
as you said you would be happy to pay for it. What if another company does it better, youād ask be happy to pay for that instead? This goes back to what I said, if Monzo build their business on software over the typical business model, theyāre asking for a competitor coming along and doing things better and cheaper.
If another company builds it better, Iād of course switch. Thatās incentive for Monzo to keep innovating though. Copying and improving an entire ecosystem experience is no easy feat.
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Anarchist
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I canāt see that it matters what itās going to be called. But then, I personally canāt see the benefit in the speculation, either.
Itāll be what it is, and either be something I value, and am willing to pay for, or it will be something I can safely ignore. I suspect it will be the latter.
Iām preparing to be underwhelmed to be fair, although Iām one of those whoās never really seen the point in having paid perks on my accounts however if they want to pay my Netflix or Amazon for me I wonāt complain
