There is a perfectly good (and long thread) about Monzo’s changes so I hesitate to take this one about Starling off-topic.
However, you (and @don_quixote) asked why I consider Monzo’s criteria complex/don’t like them.
So the criteria as they originally stood are:
a) Do you pay in more than £500 and at least 1 direct debit OR
b) Do you get a DWP or MHCLG payment at least once every 35 days OR
c) get a student loan payment every 8 months OR
d) have a joint account with someone who meets any of the above OR
e) have a Plus Account
Since then they also seem to have added PhD stipends (paid quarterly) and stated that 16/17 years are also exempt
So I now make that 7 different potential criteria (so far) not including vulnerable customers who are somehow expected to “know” to contact support when Monzo have deliberately made it harder to contact them in the app (and the telephone line cuts off automatically) and may not want to share details of any vulnerability anyway.
Monzo have also said that if you receive tax credits via HMRC instead of Universial Credit you’re not automatically exempt but need to contact support.
Whatever you think of the new approach - I think complex is a reasonable way to describe it.
Would it not have been simpler and less confusing to say everyone is entitled to one free replacement/year - it has the benefit of simplicity for both staff and customers. It would definitely have made their emails to customers easier to understand/follow (they were poor - at least some versions)
Monzo state that 1% of customers order more than one card each year and make up 35% of total card replacement costs - it would be a lot less controversial if they targeted this group
As I’ve said, my main interest is in the card replacement fee and that those who lose their card once will suffer a fee, but its also worth noting that Monzo is much more stingy than any other bank I know with cash withdrawal limits as well.
Monzo has a 30 day rolling limit which is the same or less than other banks have as a daily limit. (and I think it would be more customer friendly to adopt a monthly limit rather than a rolling 30 day period as well but that’s a different issue)