A year ago or so I made some comments about how I thought Monzo (unfortunately) had no direction. I think recent events only reaffirm that. Monzo has chosen to clean up its Plus/Premium suite - mostly a duplication of Revolut IMO. And while it did do that, it’s debatable how useful or innovative those things are.
Starling have shown a better ability to not follow the pack IMO. I’m not sure whether their features offer something revolutionary either, but their core product is still open to all (no fees with no limits in any currency, anywhere), whereas Monzo has gutted theirs.
I wasn’t necessarily saying their product is more polished, including accessibility features, just that the actual features of their product remain more open (and Monzo’s more restricted). Apparently for financial reasons, but IIRC Starling is profitable and Monzo isn’t, even though it seems Starling has no real revenue flows and Monzo has multiple (so I’m not sure how that works…)
It’s interesting that I’ve noticed recently Starling have been having a bit of a publicity campaign to highlight how easy that step is. Lots of people just making the 5 second video all over the place with lots of interruptions.
Every bank involves some form of having to prove your identity - a traditional bank often still involves you having to physically go into a branch with your ID which is also a lot less accessible than being able to record a short video on your phone.
I’m like you and the thought of the Video Selfie was something I didn’t want to do and it took me a few hours to get myself worked up enough to complete the application.
I suspect the video they’ve just released to highlight how ‘easy’ it is is in response to negative feedback about that. So, maybe they’re reviewing that, will see if that video makes a difference and if not, reconsider.
Starling does seem to be a bank that continues to evolve - the recent update to Spaces so that they show individual transactions, the launch of the ‘Kite’ app for their Kids card, even things like having a dedicated iPad app which takes advantage of the iPad screen layout. If the update to Spaces leads to them finally being able to pay DD’s direct from a Space, then I’ll be having a long hard think about switching to Starling being my main account instead of my ‘fun’ account (where I transfer money into for specific events like holidays and birthdays).
One thing I’ve seen mentioned here before but can’t remember the answer to is how the video selfie process caters for those who are deaf or have speech communication difficulties. Do they support BSL instead of speaking aloud in the video selfie? If not, that’s shocking…
Yes, I think this issue came up for both Monzo and Starling previously. Even writing it on a piece of paper whatever you’re supposed to say and holding it up is acceptable.
The only thing they need to see really is you moving and giving some kind of hint that you’re aware of what you’re doing. Someone entirely immobile, lacking speech etc. might have an issue but that’s where power of attorneys come in.
I’m sure it was on their own forum and there was some official answers maybe in the form of screenshots. If you provide something to them that fulfils the obligations I was under the impression it was accepted.
Well this is bizarre… especially coming from a bank that absolutely loves to use its Twitter account to virtue signal how progressive/diverse/inclusive it is. In fact, I distinctly remember a blog post and newsletter from them that focussed on a disabled customer of theirs and how well Starling Bank suited him! I’m very surprised this isn’t illegal - they’re outright denying those with speech difficulties from access to their services.
I seem to remember it being Monzo that permit writing something on paper instead of saying it aloud, not Starling?
The article focussed on the Connected Cards, which I must admit are a great feature for certain disabled and vulnerable customers. However, it is rather ironic that inclusion consultant Tony, who seems to be a big fan of Starling, wouldn’t have been able to sign up at all if his disability (spinal muscular atrophy) affected his speech, which the more severe forms, esp. SMA1, can.
When someone uses BSL for Monzo (or I guess Starling) set up, are those verifying trained how to read BSL or is it just your face + some movement = verified?
It must be that some team members can understand BSL, and once it’s identified initially as a BSL video it would, presumably, be flagged as such and passed on to those relevant members of staff for review.
What are these? Perhaps I got my account too early for them to have been implemented but I certainly had no onerous requirements I’m feeling sorry for later joiners if they did something weird afterwards
This is true, but as I’ve posted before (possibly on FTT back in the day) it is possible to manually save the password into keychain via the Settings app - I used my email address as the username and then the password as the password, with the website address of starlingbank.com. Once you’ve done that, iOS does recognise the saved password and prompt to automatically fill it in when required - such as during the payment process.
I’m feeling sorry for later joiners if they did something weird afterwards 
