Starling Bank Chat (Part 2)

[Lightning720]

What argument? No one is creating a Monzo Vs Starling argument.

We are just disagreeing about the point of the whole Best Bank award. We never mentioned Monzo Vs Starling.

[breville_monkey]

I’m sure it means something to the industry itself, but even I don’t really know what it is and I’m someone that hangs around banking forums and used to work for a fintech bank. I don’t expect it’s a major influencer on customer behaviour.

[Lightning720]

I don’t think the award itself means much but having Best British Bank in your adverts will likely help interest people.

[StuartL (Stuart)]

@breville_monkey

I’m sure it means something to the industry itself, but even I don’t really know what it is

I think it’s more around getting confirmation that what you’re doing in the real world is somewhat aligning with your customer’s wants/needs/expectations.

I don’t work in banking but I do work in an industry with a few awards that can to be won by popular vote and there is definitely one or two where it is gratifying to win.
Sure the company encourages people to vote but inevitably you’re also going to highlight the potential to vote to unhappy customers too. That and the fact that our competitors are equally trying to get people to vote makes it a somewhat level playing field and it’s great feeling when you come out on top.

The award is not going to make a huge difference to the general public but it does mean something to the people who helped the company get to that position. I suspect this is also why you see certificates for Trip advisor’s top chip shop in 2018 still hanging in a local chippy years later.

[Lightning720]

I think this is a very good explanation of the possible impact of these awards. It definitely tells Starling that they are doing what its customers want. Yes, it’s not going to sway everyone to move to Starling, but it may encourage the people who are looking for a new bank anyway, to at least investigate “Britain’s Best Bank”.

[breville_monkey]

@StuartL

The award is not going to make a huge difference to the general public but it does mean something to the people who helped the company get to that position.

Yeah that is pretty much my impression, that the main purpose is for the industry rather than the public

[Lewisoc (lewis oconnor)]

I’ve never used starling,
Do they offer much different compared to monzo? Features wise?

[Lewisoc (lewis oconnor)]

I’ve never used starling,
Do they offer much different c

[DaveJ (Dave)]

Without wanting to sound an arse coz I usually can do just have a look on the Starling website and take a look at what the similarities and differences are. One of the biggies though for a fair few people though is no bills pot.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

@Rat_au_van

Their ad budget this year must be huge

I’d imagine banner ads would be relatively cheap in the grand scheme, relative to TV, radio, billboards.

[TTJJ]

@Lewisoc

Do they offer much different compared to monzo? Features wise?

Feature wise they’re very similar. Starling generally have better customer service (chat available immediately or within a few minutes), fee-free withdrawals abroad, euro accounts, international payments are more supported via IBAN.

[danmullen]

I’d add in-app digital cheque imaging to the list. Not something everyone needs but for those that ever receive cheques, it’s a great feature.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

I think most of this still applies.

Starling Discussion & Feedback

Joint account feature parity Interest on pots (without minimum balance) Viewing spending by merchant iPad app Euro account Paying in at the Post Office No charges or limits on paying in Better limits on foreign cash Better payments UI Maybe I’m wrong but I also just get the impression that they’re more bothered about improviing boring features in the app rather than just focussing on monetisation.

[Lightning720]

Are advanced roundups also free compared to being a paid-for feature with Monzo Plus?

[TTJJ]

They do - round ups can apply to one or several pots and can also times up to 10% of the roundup amount.

[j06 (Jamie)]

@Starling Discussion & Feedback

Joint account feature parity

Overdrafts are not available on Starling joint accounts. This prevents me from relying on the Joint product, and my parents in their seventies would switch from NatWest except for not being able to get an overdraft on Joint.

Monzo doesn’t provide this either, and I don’t get it.

[mirodo]

And fee-free cash deposits at the Post Office for personal accounts.

[AaronB1 (Aaron)]

I still don’t get why Starling and others for example have done Bill payments from pots /spaces etc.

It seems such an obvious thing but nobody else appears to have done it.

I really like the starling app and find its UI clearer but paying from pots is a deal breaker for me.

[Lightning720]

It doesn’t bother me at all. I can just set a reminder a few days beforehand to move the money out of the space. Doesn’t take long and makes me more aware of what I am actually spending.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

@AaronB1

I still don’t get why Starling and others for example have done Bill payments from pots /spaces etc.

I don’t get the big deal about bill pots.

Seems like an over engineered solution to a simple problem to me. But no doubt plenty seem to get value from it so good for them.

I’m glad Starling prioritised other things.