In my view yes, as Starling are giving everyone one free replacement.
With Monzo, you only get a free replacement if you meet certain criteria.
What about the vulnerable, damaged etc? They are saying itās Ā£5 regardless arenāt they?
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No.
- Starling use the word āmayā charge - this is legally important as it gives them a lot of wriggle room
- Everyone benefits from at least one free replacement
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It looks as if all Starling customers may now get one Connected Card free - not just existing Connected customers
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Hard to argue with any of this from my point of view.
In many ways Monzo and Starling have been accommodating with those who have done this sort of thing - traditional banks would just close the account and possibly even place a CIFAS marker on the user for āabuse of facilityā.
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Reads to me like they might allow certain people in difficult circumstances to have one connected card free rather than all customers.
(which is commendable, but not quite as good!)
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Can i ask which account this is on? Also have a danske account and havent been made aware of this as far as i know.
For me, it was a Danske Cash Reward.
It may only be for this account type rather than others, I think it was a Ā£4 charge for new cards required because of damage or loss. I think stolen replacements may have continued to be free?
Did Monzo ever actively market itself in such a way, though?
My memory is hazy, but I canāt recall Monzo ever going deliberately after the traveller market. I think it was Money Saving Expert etc who identified it as a good traveling card and wrote about it.
Iām sure that I remember some posts from @simonb, and maybe Tom, saying explicitly that.
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You are right but the impression, whether created by MoneySavingExpert or anybody else, was there and Monzo initially did little to rebut it.
This created a misconception among some which continues to this day.
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Iām not disagreeing with that. But I think itās important to be clear that the claim that Monzo actively marketed itself in that way was wrong.
Incidentally, unlike Starling which ran massive campaigns at airports.
Of course, youāre absolutely right.
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Interestingly, though, the idea of Monzo as a spending card still seems to persist (fees refer). But Starling seems to be more seen as a current account.
It seems to follow, then, that association as an overseas card isnāt the problem. Iām inclined to think it was the prepaid, beta, days which Starling didnāt have.
(But weāre at danger of going off topic, so Iāll stop there).
Yes, I believe so.
A lot of growth in customer numbers may have come via MSE but my understanding is that MSE donāt promote companies unless those firms agree to it - precisely to avoid firms being swamped.
They used to do so but stopped well before MSE started suggesting Monzo as one of their recommended cards for travel.
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Interesting: puts MSE in a different light. Got a link to their editorial policy where thatās set out?
To me this is because Starling is doing more banking style (and more useful to the majority) - cheque imaging, post office deposits, no international cash withdrawal fees and connected card etc.
Monzo goes more to the digital features such as get paid early, bills pots and Monzo Plus.
As I have said before you can use Starling as your only current account. Monzo for some people will be fine but there will come to a point where it becomes a hindrance.
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This is, for me, the difference in approach for Starling compared with Monzo.
Starling has started by building a ātraditional-styleā bank where the front-end just so happens to be app only. This works perfectly well for a majority and even actively appeals to a large number of people.
Monzo has always been more tech-focused but it has also (in more recent years especially) decided to simply eschew some traditional features as not necessary to its digital-first audience. This is OK a lot of the time but, as said, it does mean that sometimes you run into difficulties if it is your only account.
So Monzo have gone the route of simply saying ādonāt worry, keep your old account as a backup for those thingsā while I feel Starling has the ambition of fully replacing your traditional bankās account.
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Sure.
But then people get into what services they consider to be essential!
Iāve not yet read beyond this post, but I expect Starling will be more harsh/practical/whatever with their terms. Theyāve never pretended to ācareā, so I doubt they will now.
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Iām afraid not - itās a memory I have from the early days of MSE when they started getting busy enough that their unexpected recommendations caused problems for the firms and its readers would then complain on the forum.