I’ve seen requests for this as far back as 2018 but can’t find anything from the past year. For those unfamiliar with the idea and the benefit:
Monzo now allows us to spend directly from a pot - which is great. But it’s still limited because it only works with Apple/Google/Samsung Pay.
I would like to see this enhanced by letting us select the main account or a given pot, and being able to spend from the physical card. This is similar in principle to what Curve does, except you’re only spending from various parts of the one Monzo account.
Some retailers still have limits on how much they’ll accept in a contactless payment, and sometimes you just need to use a physical card (that’s why Monzo sends us one!). As an example, I recently bought tickets for a live event and the venue has informed me they make all attendees put their phones and smart watches inside a pouch that stops them being used. No chance of using Apple Pay to get refreshments there.
As an example, let’s say I’m going on a date with my wife. I simply select “use Date pot for spending” in the app, and then every time I use my card that evening, I know it’s coming from the appropriate budget.
You wouldn’t have to change the source if you didn’t want to. The introduction of the virtual cards demonstrates the validity of this, rather than replacing it IMO, because it acknowledges that spending from pots directly is useful but restricting to only virtual introduces limitations. As I said originally, if virtual cards were deemed sufficient then we wouldn’t keep receiving physical cards. Not sure how you can say it’s not a good idea though when literally other places offer it - it was the entire selling point of Curve.
I have Chase as I’m trying it out but the two platforms are too different. I’m a Monzo Plus user, and the custom categories and adding other accounts to the app are great features. Chase doesn’t offer these AFAIA
If you can do it via Curve, then you should use Curve.
It would cause so much confusion when people set it to their date pot, forgot to change it back, couldn’t buy their shopping and would complain that Monzo don’t let them eat. It doesn’t really matter as Monzo won’t do it.
I do use Curve, but it’s not a bank so it’s not a replacement for Monzo.
Your objection is solved with a simple notification: “you’re still spending from a pot, would you like to change it back?”. Or when you choose a pot, there’s an option to select the duration (e.g. for the next transaction, all day, until I change it). Or if it runs out of money, default back to the main account. None of this is rocket science.
You keep saying virtual cards are better but you’re not saying why. I’ve already given at least two scenarios where virtual cards literally wouldn’t be available.
And virtual cards would still exist, so if you think they’re a better solution then keep using them. The fact other places offer it is evidence enough that it works, but if it’s not for you then don’t vote for it - it’s not like you’d be forced to change your own usage habits.
And what about in your scenario where your phone is locked away? You’re just creating more problems and confusion to fit exactly what you want, when there is already a better solution.
Virtual cards are limitless for a start. You have one niche example where you can’t pay with a mobile wallet, but other than that it’s a much better solution.
Just because other places do it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I get that you want it and you think it is, but Monzo don’t seem to agree as they went the other way.
They haven’t gone the other way - are you unaware that other banks offer both? Why do they offer both? Because of the simple fact that physical cards serve a purpose.
I could just as easily find flaws in your scenario. Let’s say I want to use a virtual card but my phone dies? Or it gets stolen? What if I spend too much from my main account and the card is declined but I have money in my pots (because in your scenario, apparently someone at Tesco couldn’t just open the app and switch back to the main account).
“What if your phone is locked away” - the whole point of that example is that you only have the physical card! Virtual becomes a non-entity.
I gave two examples where you couldn’t use them: one, where one of the biggest event venues in the country bans it (so I expect it to become more commonplace), and two, where a retailer still limits how much can be purchased on a contactless payment.
Something isn’t “not a good idea” just because you personally see no use for it. Other banks offer it, other customers have requested it, and they’ve given their own uses for it. Please notice the difference between “I wouldn’t use it” and “nobody needs it”
Then you still have your physical card. If you’ve set your money to come from a certain pot then there’s nothing you can do.
We can play “what if…” all day. Virtual cards is the better solution, that’s obvious and that’s why Monzo chose to do that.
They could do both, maybe they will, but it’s very unlikely as it just adds complication. The fact you couldn’t find threads in the last year says that’s it’s not a popular request and people are happy with what Monzo offer.
That’s a myopic view. If you broaden that view a bit you’ll actually see people leaving Monzo or ignoring them in the first place for various reasons, so to say “if they’ve done it then it’s the better solution” is mind-bogglingly ignorant.
“Then you still have your physical card. If you’ve set your money to come from a certain pot then there’s nothing you can do.”
False! The aforementioned default to use your main account if a pot is empty would fix this. To use Curve again, they did this with their anti-embarassement mode, as they call it.
“but it’s very unlikely as it just adds complication”
It literally adds no complication because if you didn’t want to use it, you’d ignore it. I could imagine you sitting there a few years ago saying the exact same thing about pots as an idea. Or not allowing direct debits from pots because hey, what happens if a DD increases and the pot doesn’t have enough money?!
Oh sorry, I should have praised your idea, your inability to use the other threads for the same subject and your determination to try and explain how your poor idea is better than the current solution?
I guess you could make a btec version of what you described using IFTTT. Though this would have to be disabled and enabled every time you wanted to spend from this pot, or end up making multiple IFTTT applets.
For example:
if you spend any amount, anywhere then move money out of a pot.
EDIT: Should also add that you have to set a specific amount with IFTTT, so you might have to have a good think about your average spend on say date nights per merchant.
